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What has gotten into me today

I had Sebastian's IEP today and it went well. They don't think that he qualifies for services anymore. They believe the classroom has really helped Sebastian over come some of his sensory and social issues. We will continue with the private OT and plan on private preschool in the fall. I came home and decided I needed to clean. This is so not like me. I swept and mopped the floors. I had Alexandra help me after she came out from rest time. This is my only thought, I saw that the next few days are going to be really humid and hot. Today it is hot but not real humid. I figure If I do this hard work now, it's done and I won't have to work hard the really humid days. Also, an update on my strawberries. What ever is eating them Is getting as many as I am and that doesn't make me happy. What does make me happy is to enjoy the freshest strawberries out of my own back yard. It's the little things! It really doesn't take much to make me happy! :)

Obedience

This is a word I use a lot with my kids. God also wants it from me. After praying for a family in our preschool that their unborn daughter would not be born with a half functioning heart, I felt led to lay hands on the mom and baby and pray for a complete healing. I believe God can heal this babies heart but putting myself out there was the tough part. Tonight we had dinner with the family and another family from the preschool. Afterwards, we laid hands on the mom and her pregnant belly and prayed that when she comes out on Wednesday her heart will be totally normal. I prayed it would mystify the DR.s but we would know it was by the hand of God. I have no idea where this family is with God and I hope that through this they get drawn closer to him. I did my part, now it's God's turn to heal that little girls heart. Will you take a moment and lift up Lindsay. She'll be delivered on Wednesday. If you are interested in her progress you can check our the families blog at lindsaysheart.blogspot.com. I'm excited to see what God's going to do in the next few days. It was hard to be obiedent, but it was worth it.

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My water bugs

We decided to buy a new pool today since the weather reports are saying we are going to have a very hot day tomorrow. The kids couldn't wait until tomorrow for the fun to begin and here's some pics and video of some of the fun tonight. You got to love summer!

Big Boy Bed Update

I wondered what would happen last night when we put Sebastian to bed. We went up to go to bed and he walked right up to his new bed and said "I gotta get into my new bed, mama!". If I could have, I would have done cartwheels. The room is just not big enough for that. I did it in my mind! He cried a little bit when Paul made him lay down but once we left, he stopped crying. Then Alexandra read him a book and after two times out of bed, all was quiet in the room. A big sigh of relief! I did talk to both Alexandra and Sebastian last night about us moving Atticus into their room. Their reaction was was funny. Alexandra said "oh mom I would love that". Sebastian looked really worried and then after a few questions to him, it came out that he thought Atticus was going to sleep in his bed with him. LOL. We told him no, Atticus would sleep in his own bed. Oh the things kids come up with. One more big milestone, potty training, and our summer will be complete!

A hard night

At the advice of some we decided to take Sebastian bed out of his room and have him sleep in his big boy bed. We are finding with Sebastian that he hates change. I mean come on who doesn't. Paul read him a few books while I took the bed out, you see we really didn't intend on doing this tonight. When he realized I took it out, he cried and went out of the room to find his old bed. He went all the way downstairs to find it but it was out of site. Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew this was going to be a tough night. After lots of tears and screams, Alexandra read a couple of books to him and things have been quiet so far. I know this was necessary but my soft heart to him makes tonight hard for me too. Not because he's not in his old bed anymore, but because it pained him so much. We'll see how tomorrow morning goes when he can get out of bed all by himself.

The School Picnic

OH my sensitive little girl

Last night I thought I'd get Alexandra ready for school ending so I told her she just had one more day of school and then in the fall she would go to the big school. I thought her response would be oh, yea, I can't wait to go to the big school. Instead, I get a crinkled up face and tears streaming down her face. She says, "Mrs. Sellers" through her tears. I started to tear up. There were many a year where I went home on that last day of school and cried about my teacher, never seeing him or her again. It was so hard. I got exactly what she was feeling and I just had to let her grieve it. I told her we would see Mrs. Sellers again and that we would make her a special project on Tuesday and give it to her as a thank you gift. She wasn't as upset today and we did make a project. Hopefully, tomorrow at school she'll be ok. Poor girl, she had to get that from me!

Another Contest from 5 minutes for mom!

I'm trying to win a wii for the kid in me so I thought I'd submit this picture of Sebastian. Walking in the back yard picking dandelions! Priceless. Get more details on the contest here!

Bringing in the heavy hitter

M&M's. I have placed a jar full of them up on the back of the toilet. If he goes on the potty, he gets one. He's gotten three pieces in the last two days but we've had 4 accidents as well. That's progress though. I'm also making him take off his wet underwear and pants and take them to the laundry across the house. He's not happy about that at all, thanks for the tip Wendy! I also came to a realization, it's not my main job as mom to make my kids comfortable. It's my heart to do that but it's not always the best for them. I've got to keep that in mind while potty training Sebastian.

Potty Training update

We had three accidents within minutes of him sitting on the potty. We went through 3 pants and underwear. I decided that I need to make him even more uncomfortable but try not to make more work for me. I found 3T plastic pants. We're going with underwear and the plastic pants. Then I won't have to change his pants every time. I'm committed to continue to work on this. I believe he can do it, he just really doesn't want to. I'll keep you up dated!

Let the wetness begin

Our sitter is on vacation this week so I'm taking that opportunity to kick the potty training into high gear. Although we've been working on it here and there, this morning he is in big boy pants and he knows if he doesn't use the potty, he's going to be wet. Although Atticus used the big boy potty last week, I'm not pushing him as hard. If he wants to use the potty, great if not that's fine too. I think when he sees Sebastian using the potty, he will too, just like last week. We'll see. Sebastian has had his big boy pants on for about a hour now and no accidents.

A Normal Question

"Can he put on his shoes?" Pretty normal question right? Can your three year old boy put on his shoes? It was followed by can he dress himself? With a glazed over look, I answered "No, he can't?" I didn't know that my three year old was suppose to be able to put on his shoes. I didn't know he should be able to pull his shirt over his head or pull up his pants. The question was asked by a social worker at our first evaluation with the PET program. I felt so uninformed. The team that day told me that putting on shoes and clothes is tied into his gross and fine motor skills, two areas he's struggled with. They also shared with me that kids should be putting on their shoes and clothes around 2 years old. I had no idea but I'm never one to back down from a fight or a struggle so I was gonna work on him getting those shoes and clothes on. That question was asked about 3 months ago and I'm happy to report that Sebastian can put his shoes and clothes on all by himself. It took a lot of tears, screams, pleads and encouraging words but he can do it. This post is a part of the Scribbit Write-away contest. You can check it out here.

One of my favorite mommy moments

Alexandra was having a hard time getting to sleep and so she came downstairs. She wanted me to help her find an animal in her bed and since it was really late I told her no. She cried and cried. I sat back down on the couch to see this little 4 years old come face to face with me. Here's what she said, "I can't understand why you won't help me. If you were in my position, you would be frustrated too!". I didn't know if I should laugh or yell. I said to her that her behavior doesn't make me want to help her to encourage this in the future (I know, I know, It was late). She says, "And what does that even mean!". I tried to not laugh and then went upstairs to put her back to bed. I couldn't believe my 4 year old was speaking like that to me with such big words. It was too funny!

Three Cheers for Daddy

So, we were out late last night having dinner and playing cards with Paul's family. Paul was so exhausted I drove home and then stayed up for a while unwinding. The kids got up at normal time and Paul got out of bed with them. I woke back up at 10 AM and went downstairs, to an empty house. A note was left saying, we went to the museum and the library. I did a happy dance. I got to eat breakfast in silence, I watched the taped Office from Thursday night and I got to get myself ready without any interruptions. Oh My, it was so nice. I went to the store and came back to find everyone back home after having an awesome time with Daddy! We celebrated our 9th anniversary on Thursday but didn't really do anything (we will later in the summer). This was an awesome treat on a Saturday! Even though I thought I knew it 9 years ago, Paul cemented today that he is a great, great man and husband! Three cheers for Paul!

Dinner with the Erbe's

Lee and Sylvia came over Sunday night for dinner and cards. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or Grandma and Grandpa!

5 minutes for Mom's Photo Contest

I want my kids to really have a great childhood and sometimes that means we play in the puddles.

If I get picked as a finalist I'll let you know. The winner will walk away with $1,000. I'll keep you posted.

Sebastian's skills

Boy does Sebastian have some verbal skills. Tonight when we were putting the kids to bed, Alexandra had baby lion because it was her turn. Sebastian had her princess watch and was conversing with us about it. Paul started to try to get the kids to trade so that Alexandra could get her watch. His words to Alexandra were "If you give Sebastian baby lion, he'll give you the watch. That'll be a good trade." Sebastian says, "That is not a good trade.". We laughed so hard. You would think he would be just repeating what Paul said but he's putting his own words in with what Paul said. He's also doing really well with prepositions which is cool. Tonight he said the watch was on his arm and sleeping beauty was on the watch. The OT has asked us to work on that so it's really cool to see our work is paying off, again!

Great News for Sebastian

So, It's been just a few weeks but we are getting good news from the Teacher of Sebastian's class. She stopped me today and said that Sebastian is doing really, really well. He's interacting with the other kids and he's interacting with the teachers well. He sits well at circle time, he responds when questioned and the music doesn't seem to bother his auditory issues. She is recommending that he go with a regular classroom in the fall. That's what we wanted to hear! Yippeee! He'll finish out this year in the ECDD class and then we'll have a new IEP to change our plan for next year. I am so excited! What great news! Praise God!

A great Sunday afternoon

It has been so nice here that we can't help but be outside. I finally got my batteries charged for the camera and took some pics. After dinner I made some cookies and they enjoyed them at the picnic table. Ah....Good times!

Mama I like your....

So yesterday I changed my clothes so go get my hair cut and Alexandra says, "mama, I like your shirt". I said thanks honey. Then Sebastian says "mama, I like your pants." He's been doing stuff like that lately. I laughed. He comes up with the funniest stuff. You see my pants were just an ordinary pair of off white shorts.

Let them struggle

Yesterday Sebastian was not excited about going to school. He cried when I left and it was hard for me to leave. I'm seeing though that Mrs. B the teacher really has a way with Sebastian and is really good at pushing him. She had him on the monkey bars this week and that's something I would have never done. I watch him struggle with tasks every day and some days I just stop the struggle and do those things for him. As I was watching Sebastian outside yesterday I thought, you know sometimes God allows us to struggle because what's on the other side is so much better for us. We can't see it but He can and that's why he allows it. As Sebastian struggles to put his shoes on and I verbally encourage him and not physically step in, every time gets easier. He is putting on his own shoes, pants and shirt. That's all because we've allowed him to struggle to figure out how to do those things. He's better because of the struggle. As his mom, that is one of the hardest things for me to grasp. I have such a love in my heart for him, I want things to come easy, but they don't for him right now. I have to see further into the future, that the struggle now will pay big later. I've got to keep reminding myself of that.

Sweet Kisses

Atticus has been pretty stingy with his kisses. He also really hadn't learned how to pucker and actually kiss. I would ask for a kiss and he would shake his head no. I have continued to ask. Yesterday he tried to open mouth kiss me which was a little yucky. Today, we were playing outside and he was very busy with the cars and the balls. I was sitting on the step and he came up, climbed up on the step and puckered up and kissed me twice. He then hugged me. Oh, so sweet. I was especially glad it wasn't an open mouth kiss.

The prayers of a little boy

One of these days I am going to video tape Sebastian praying at night. The way he prays is just the sweetest thing. I also know that when he's 16, I won't remember it. He prays for family members and dogs and he puts his hand on each of our heads and prays for us. It is just really cool and I don't want to forget it.

Back to our routine

Today was the first day back for Sebastian at Preschool. I talked to him about it this morning and he said yes he was ready to go back and see Ms. B and Mr. Travis. What's funny is that he didn't ask about school at all while we were on break. Alexandra was not happy about Sebastian going back to school either. I'm still struggling with Sebastian going to school. Some of it is that he misses his rest time and he really struggled that week he was at school. I still haven't figured out why I'm still struggling. I have a great relationship with the parent pro and the teacher so I guess I'll just keep processing. Alexandra was talking to me on the way home and said she wanted a peacock dress. I told her it would be difficult to make so she couldn't have one. She said she would buy one. I asked if she had money. She paused and said, "I have an idea, I'll find money on the ground. I just have to start looking." I had to laugh. I told her yes, she could find money and then save it so she could buy the dress. She is very, very resourceful. It's pretty amazing.

The things they say

Two funny things came out of the mouths of my babes tonight.

Just before dinner was over Paul asked the kids to pick up the toys in the living room before I gave them a bath. Paul then grabs a blanket and lays down on the couch for a short nap. I said to him, "what are you doing". He said, "oh just taking a little snooze". Alexandra said, "How are we going to clean up all the toys with Daddy snoring on the couch?" What's really funny is that Paul doesn't snore.

Tonight after bath I was drying off Sebastian I asked him if it was a good back. He said, "yep is was a good belly button and back bath mommy!" I laughed. He has a fascination with his belly button. He mentions it quite often. Oh the things they say and focus on!

The power of accountability

Last night we hosted Home group. I told the group that I was having a hard time getting things done. I was doing really well with sorting clothes and washing windows but not work and vision stuff done for my new venture. I'm hoping to get a grant to put together a blog community and a book series to help educate parents on the development milestones for their children. I've also had to write a letter to get Alexandra released from our current school system so she can go to a better smaller school system in the fall. Well, after telling everyone that last night and getting prayer, I sent off two emails for the development milestone site and the letter to our school system is addressed and ready to go in the mail. You would have thought the rain here today would have put me in the mood for a nap but instead I got a lot done. I think part of the reason is too that I totally cleaned the house yesterday and I got all the laundry done yesterday. I pretty much have nothing to do today in the house so I had to do those other things. Whatever it was I'm glad I got all those things done.

Getting back to reality

Oh, it's been quite a transition back to reality. I miss vacation. The boys got sick the week we got back and I think we're all just about well again. Alexandra and Sebastian are on spring break now and we are loving the weather. Atticus is so funny, he will run away from me and try to hide from me when I tell him it's time to go inside. Spring has also motivated me to clean windows and keep the house picked up. Also I've been grilling. Ah, how I longed for these days back in January and February. I do think though that I will spend a large amount of my time this spring and summer pushing the kids on the swings. Alexandra can pump but Sebastian isn't quite co-ordinated enough to do that so I have to push him. If I push him, then Alexandra wants me to push her as well. Atticus is funny, he doesn't care at all what the other two are doing. He plays in the toy car, he plays with the balls, he pushes the toys around. It is so funny. I'm finding it hard to blog as much when it's so nice outside, I'll try to keep on top of it a little better than I have. Sorry for the little break!

Mystery Reader

If you didn't know, which I didn't, March is reading month. Alexandra's preschool had mystery readers and She wanted Pa Pa (or my dad) to read. He agreed but said we'd have to pick the book for him. Last night Alexandra started to pick books. The first one was about Human Development. I told her no. Then she picked a easter and religious traditions book that had no pictures and lots and lots words. So I directed her to a fire dog book and a bakers counting book. As you can see and hear he did an awesome job and the kids seem to really enjoy it. It was so cool to see him reading to Alexandra's class.

Wordless Wednesday - My boys

A haircut for Granny

When we were in Florida my mom thought it would be a good thing to get Alexandra a hair cut. Just to trim her hair up. Both Alexandra and I told her no. So, after I got home I thought about what she said (see mom, I do listen to you)and I talked to Alexandra about it. She thought it would be fine. So, I trimmed it. Here's a pic of the new do. She's not real thrilled with it since it's too short to really braid it but other than that I think it's really cute a little shorter.

I think it was harder on me

Today was the day I had been dreading for a while. Sebastian started his preschool class today. We all headed to the school. Sebastian went right in and started to play. We had to check in with the lunch lady and once we left he started to cry. We peeked in the window and the Teacher told me that he was upset and she was holding him. She told me to go. I started to cry as we walked out the door. Alexandra asked me what was wrong. I told her that dropping Sebastian was hard for me and it made me sad. I could tell she didn't get it. I cried more on the way home. We got home and got Atticus to bed and Alexandra was getting ready for rest time. I started to cry again. Alexandra said, mom you don't have to be sad, I'm not sad. He'll be back in a couple of hours. Plus, you have that other boy in the other room." I laughed through my tears and I said, "I also have you". We picked him up around 3:30 PM and he was really happy to see us. The Teacher said he did really well and got a star on his hand for helping to pick up toys. She said they played in the gym and he was kicking balls and running around. He told me as we left that he had a good time and wanted to go back. He fell asleep on the way home and he slept in the car for about an hour. He was a little out of sorts tonight, I think it'll be a few days or even into next week to transition out of his nap time.

I of course analyzed why this was so upsetting to me to leave him at preschool today. I cried when I dropped Alexandra off but I also knew she and I were both ready. I hadn't prepared myself for this like I did with her. I think my other concern was that the teachers wouldn't get him, like I get him and maybe they won't but that doesn't mean they can't help him. I also don't want him to be mistreated. It's not that I get that feeling but it would pain me to know we made this decision and it hurt him in some way instead of helping him. I guess I'll leave it at that for now. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts tomorrow.

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The time of our lives

Sorry I haven't been able to update via utterz but my cell phone hasn't been working in Port. Yesterday we were in Cozumel and it was awesome. We snokeled, enjoyed the ocean on a private beach and had an awesome ride on a catamaran. We also had a great time yesterday at dinner with our new friends Kelly and Chris and Wendy and David. Ask me about the game show the Quest. I won't blog about it here. We arrived in Progreso this morning and it was raining and cloudy. It was still warm though. We visited a mayan ruins site and it was fantastic. I'll post pics soon. We enjoyed climing the ruins and seeing the country side of Mexico. Progreso is a fairly new port and the city isn't quite the tourist mecca that Cozumel is. We've had rough seas most of the time but Paul has not been sick anymore. Tonight we'll enjoy another delicious dinner with our table mates and then hopefully have a warm and sunny day at sea. We'll arrive back at Tampa at 7 AM on Saturday. This trip has been a great time for Paul and I to reconnect and just talk about stuff and really cut loose and have a great time together, like we did early in our marriage. This was well worth the money for the encouragment it's been to our relationship. Please continue to pray for my mom and Russ as they are still taking care of the three little ones. I'll post more soon!

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Today is the day

We arrived in Florida save and sound. It was really late and Sebastian decided he didn't want to sleep in the playard, he wanted to sleep in the big bed with Alexandra. He did and pretty much stayed in the bed until morning. Hopefully, this will help him transition to the big bed when we get home. We also left Sebastian's nite-nite at home in Michigan. Granny saved the day and went and bought him a new one and we made a big deal about it when we arrived. Out of the three, he's the one who would deal with it the best! He's done really well. Atticus I think is still recovering from the sickness and is still pretty tired. We will leave for Tampa today at 2 PM and hopefully be on the boat and ready to sail by 3 PM. Last night I started to think about being away from the kids for that long and it started to bother me. I know they will be well taken care of here with My mom and Russ, it's still a litte weird to know we'll be gone for 5 days. Oh and for my friends in cooler climates, the weather has been sunny and 85 to 90 here. The kids have been loving being outside and playing in the pool. It's been so nice! I hope to update either by Utterz or via the internet while on the boat to keep a record of our trip!

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Crazy Time

Our OT , Joann has recommended that we do some things to help reset Sebastian's vestibular system. I have called this crazy time in our house. The kids get to jump on the bed and run around and be "crazy". The physical activity stimulates Sebastian's large muscle groups and it also helps all the kids to let off some steam. As you can see from the pics, they are having a good time.

The Sickness has got to go

Ok so last week it was colds and sinus infections. I thought, ok great we'll be good to go for vacation. Then, I get this in bed all day stomach flu yesterday. For the first time ever in our marriage, I called Paul at work and asked him to please come home. I was either on the couch or in the bathroom. Paul got home around 12:30 PM and I was in bed the rest of the day until 7:30 PM. It was horrible. I'm thankful that today I am feeling better but still not well. I've been praying the kids don't get it especially since we fly to florida on Saturday. Paul is still fighting his infection and is hoping to get more medicine tomorrow. The kids seem to be all over everything so I'll keep praying that they stay well. Paul and I leave Tampa on a royal caribbean cruise for 5 nights. I am so excited. I just realized last night that I've never been to Mexico and our cruise will make two stops in Mexico. Oh and keep checking back next week, I hope to be posting pics and sound from our cruise!

Sebastian Update

We had Sebastian's IEP on Friday. I was on my own, other than the prayers of faithful friends and family. Joann couldn't make it. I met with the school psychologist and the teacher for the ECDD class. Joann had given me a list of questions specifically about the OT and the training the teachers had. Sebastian's sensory issues have flared up quite a bit in the last week. He's telling me more and more that things are too loud like music and TV. Joann wants us to start what they call "Theraputic Listening". It's where we put headphones on with his favorite song or my voice and set it at a level where it's comfortable for him. Then we do that for a few days and then take it up a level and see how he responds. We are also going to be starting the "brushing technique" to help with the touch sensitivity. Joann wanted to make sure that if we put him in the classroom, they would continue to help me with those things. Joann will train me as well so that I can do those things at home. The teacher assured me that if that's what he needs, they will be trained and will do what the OT in the classroom suggests. They will also allow activities every day he's there that will help stimulate his vestibular system. We are also asking the dr. to refer us to a audiologist to determine whether or not there is anything physically wrong wit his inner ear since he does have balance problems. I decided to sign the agreement to put him in the afternoon classroom starting March 25th. He'll be going 3 1/2 days which is better than the 4 I thought. On a good note, his gross motor skills are improving and his speech is so much better. He continues to amaze me with the things he says. He's also learning more and more about sharing and caring. He accidentally kicked me in the face the other day on the swing. I said to him that he hurt me. He said, oh mama, I'm so sorry! I'm very thankful for the help we are receiving and I hope that by the fall he'll be ready for a mainstream 2 day preschool.

The process

Although I'm in Gr right now helping out with WaYfm's sharathon, I'm also still processing what happened yesterday when we visited the ECDD classroom. Sebastian didn't really engage with the kids when the music was playing and they were dancing around. Now that I look back, he had his fingers in his ears. He usually dances around when we play music at home. I talked to Joann today and she said it seems his auditory issues are really progressing. He started to tell me when I rip the sides of his pull up to change him, that its too loud. I think as we continue to progress with him, other issues are rearing their heads. Joann will advocate for him on Friday that maybe the classroom isn't the best thing for him that maybe one on one therapy. I think the socialization and the extra work would be really good for him but I don't want him to be overwhelmed with all the noise. Oh, I have so much on my mind but I am having a great time on the radio. I'm on between 3 and 5 PM. And then 6 to 8 PM. Listen live now at Way.fm

I'm a believer

As I go through the struggles with Sebastian I have felt God share with me about what my struggles are and how I dishonor God and My Husband as I struggle with Food and Money issues. Tonight I shared some of that with Paul and for the first time we had a civil conversation about it. I truly believe that it went so well because I was honest, upfront and owned up to my stuff. I tell you it is so shameful to have to face your stuff with the person you Love the most. Paul finally understood that my actions are not acts of defiance. I spend and eat too much because I'm trying to fill a need with those things that I should be getting filled by God. I told him I couldn't be out here all alone anymore. I need guidance and accountability. He for the first time that I was more important to him than Money or Debt. I needed to hear those words. I needed to hear that I was more important to him than fixing these things in our life. I'm considering seeking some counseling for these issues. My call to you is, if you are hiding something from someone you love, don't let it rule your life. Sit down with them, share the honest truth that you are struggling and that you need their help. You can't go it alone anymore. It's hard, but to be unburdened Is so much better.

Busy, busy, busy

It seems like this is just a busy time of year for us. Alexandra has had school three days a week, Sebastian still does his therapy once a week and Atticus is just all over the place all the time. I'm working on a spaghetti dinner and auction for the preschool. I've secured donations and meat for the dinner. That doesn't happen until March 27th. Sebastian's IEP meeting is this Friday and I needed to stop by the classroom this week. We did that today. Sebastian did well and I think I'll be good for him. I'm the one that is having a hard time with it. He told me after we left "mama, that sandbox was so nice!". I chuckled. The kids in the class had a lot of speech issues and a few had physical issues. Tomorrow I head to GR for Sharathon 2008 for WayFM. I'll be on tomorrow at 10 am and then throughout the day and Thursday as well starting at 7 AM. As I said I have Sebastian's IEP on Friday. Whew! I'm tired already and I haven't even gone through it all. The nice thing is that these kinds of things usually energize me so I should come off of the two days. I will try to give an update while I'm in GR but we'll have to see.

Oh, too funny

Alexandra heads down the stairs tonight and here's how the conversation went:

Me: What are you doing out of bed?

Alexandra: Something is wrong mom?

Me: What?

A: Well, Buddy got out of his bed, he didn't turn on the light but he's in my bed, he won't leave so I can't go to sleep.

Me: Ok, I'll see what's going on. (I head into the room to find Buddy in Alexandra's bed reading a book.)

Sebastian: Mama, I reading.

Me: You need to be in your own bed, reading.

Sebastian: Oh, you right mama.

I put him in his bed. I smelled something. I asked If he had poopy.

Sebastian: No, I not. Bubba poopy.

Atticus is in a whole different room. It's funny. He won't tell me when he is, but he'll lie to me when he isn't to get out of bed. I'm hoping his escape tonight starts to push him to wanting to be in his own bed.

Wordless Wednesday - Pure Joy in a bucket

It's amazing at 4, she gets it

Today at lunch, Alexandra picked up the national right to life newspaper. On the front was a picture of a girl holding a sign that said "Abortion Kills Babies". She asked me what the sign said and I told her. She first said, they want to kill Bubba? I told her no that it happens when the babies are in their mommies tummy. She said I don't understand why people would kill babies. I told her I didn't understand either. She said mom we need to make cards and hand them out to people. The cards needed to say, "Stop killing babies". She told me she wanted to hand them out to people at church. I told her I thought people at church probably agreed with her position to stop killing babies. Just so you know, we have never talked to her about this. It's so interesting to me that she gets that killing babies is wrong. My little activist, she makes me so proud!

My Trip to Old Navy

Since it's Thursday, I got to get out of the house this evening. I decided to head over to Old Navy to see what kind of sales they had. I found a few things and headed up to the register to pay. I went to a lane that had a woman and a man behind the register. The woman said hello and said that she was being trained. The guy, leaned over the counter and said, what you doing later tonight? I paused, said, well later tonight I'm watching Lost. He said, oh, you want a cuddle buddy? I replied, I already have one, note the diamonds on my hand. "Oh, that is just too bad." I said I also have 3 kids that he probably didn't want to have responsibility for. "Oh I love kids, I'm doing my student teaching right now". Ok so that means he must be about 10 years younger that me. What? Even though it was probably harmless flirting, It made this 34 year old feel pretty good. Especially since he is 10 years younger than me.

Wordless Wednesday - Precious Daddy Time

That's a new verison of that song

For the longest time Alexandra would sing the "Veggie Tales Theme song" like this, Broccoli, Celery, combery, Veggie Tales. Paul and I would giggle to ourselves and say I wonder what Combery tastes like. Yesterday in the car she started to sing the song but with a little different twist. "Broccoli, Celery, gotta pee, veggie tales.". Now I don't think she really did but I laughed so hard I almost did.

It's a wonder what a few days can do

Thanks to all who have called and emailed to check on me after my post about Sebastian. I needed to process and pray and have a great conversation with our OT Joann. She has been a gift from God for me. She's acquainted with the system and what options I have. She also told me that she thinks they are pushing him through to the ECDD class so that he does get more help not because he's really as bad as they say. As we've done more self help things over the last few days, I see that he struggles but he's working on it. He can get his pants up part way but can't get them all the way up. He can sometimes get his boots on and can always get them off. He can put his own socks on. He's getting there. I also have been thinking also about the end of the conversation I had with Joann. I mentioned to her that I feel too emotional to be Sebastian's mom. She said, "Oh Heather, you are so much stronger than you feel right now. There are no mistakes Heather you are meant to be his mom." I feel my emotions, after I get through them, spur me on to make things better for him. If I didn't care so much for him, I wouldn't be going through this. As I've talked to some people about what's been going on with Sebastian, I've heard of so many moms who are living in denial that there's anything going on with their child. I can't do that. I love him too much to let these things go. Although, it will be tough emotionally for me, we'll keep working at this for him. Our long term goal is that he starts kindergarten with no seen problems. I guess this isn't just Sebastian's journey, It's my journey too!

It's time to vote!

The voting for the Love is.... photo contest is now open. If you like the photo further down the page please go here. I would love to win the gift card. You only have two more days left to vote. Thanks for the support!

A new journey for Sebastian

We had Sebastian's evaluation with the PET program today. There was a psychologist, speech pathologist, social worker and an ot. Our OT didn't make it and neither did the OT from the early on program. I was disappointed with that. After almost 2 hours of questions for me and tests for Sebastian, they came back with news I wasn't expecting. After a conversation with our OT, Joann, I figured they weren't going to be able to offer much to us. They do want him to be in an ECDD (Early Childhood Delayed Development)classroom. He's a year and a half behind in his self help skills like putting on and taking off clothes. They also think his sensory issues warrant him being in the special class. The good news is his speech is right where it should be along with his cognitive problem skills. Now I need to go and visit the classroom where they want to place him and see if it's something we want. Then we have another meeting with the team at the pet program to set goals for him and decide what we want to do. I know that what we've done up to this point has been great for him. It just always hard when someone tells you there's something wrong with your child. So needless to say I'm struggling with this. When you are pregnant, you never ever think somethings going to be wrong with your baby. That happens to other people. Now here we are. When praying today I felt God saying you know we all have our stuff, even your kids. It's easy to see Alexandra's issues, they are just like mine. Sebastian's are different. I'm not trained to help him. I feel like I can only go so far and now we need someone professional to step in. I just want to make sure that he's in a good environment for learning and socialization. In a moment of tears, I cried out to God that I'm not equipped to be Sebastian's mom, I'm too emotional. Clearly I heard, you are exactly the person to be his mother. I'm not sure what that means but I'm trusting that God knows what He's doing.

Happy Valentines day

Alexandra is so excited about Valentines day. I baked this heart cookie for school tomorrow and she put the hearts on. She also picked valentines for all her classmates and wrote their names on them. She was so proud to write them herself. I was very proud of her too. She wrote her own name on about half of them and then got tired. I can't really blame her. All the rest she just put a big A on them.

This is what a twiddle bug looks like after going through the Vacuum

I had to fish this out of the vacuum cleaner tonight after he got sucked up. Alexandra was afraid we'd never see him again. The look on her face endured me to stick my hand in the dirty vacuum bag! He's going in the washer tomorrow.

Write from Karen Photo Contest

Karen is doing it again! Here's my photo for the contest. This is from 2006 when Atticus was not even a month old yet. Alexandra got down on the floor with him and gave him a kiss. I think it is the epitome of Love. That's what Karen's theme was for this contest. I'll let you know when you can vote for me!

He really is his father's son

Tonight Sebastian was straggling behind while Alexandra and Atticus were in the bath. I came out of the bathroom and asked Paul where Sebastian was. He said he was in the living room reading his latest copy of the Economist. This is a very heady magazine just in case you haven't heard of it. I asked Sebastian what he was doing. He replied "looking at pictures". I said, "is it very interesting?" His reply " nope". I laughed out loud and Paul rolled his eyes.

The Audition

For some reason, Alexandra has decided that she needs to audition for a dance competition. I don't know where she got this from and no we have not been letting her stay up and watch American Idol. What I love is that Atticus is also auditioning in his own way. He's actually funnier than she is.

So this is what happens when I'm not here...

We had a craft night at church on Friday night which means that Daddy was home alone with the kids. He took a video of just a few of the antics that happened that night.

What a sweet girl.

For some reason I have had a really hard time getting rid of Alexandra's baby and toddler clothes. I decided I would go through some and get rid of some of them. I have a friend who will probably have kids in the next couple years so I'm saving some of my favorites for her. Anyway, Alexandra wanted to try on some of the clothes and was so disappointed they didn't fit her anymore. I found some really cute dresses and I got all nostalgic about how cute she looked in this dress when she was small. She looked at me for a few seconds, then smiled and came over an hugged me. She could tell that I was feeling sad that she was no longer that small. I always wanted my kids to have empathy and I saw that in that moment. Made me proud!

This boy loves his dinner

Although he would not cooperate with the camera you can see all the goulash on his face, clothes and head. I even saw him lick the bowl. Too funny! This does a mom's heart good.