New Posts!

Scroll down a ways...I've blogged quite a bit! Sometimes I don't realize how much there is to blog about until I sit down and take time to upload my pictures from my phone and camera! Enjoy and thanks for taking time to read about what's going on in our lives!

No More Music Truck

I finally broke down the other day and bought way over priced ice cream from the "music man". Now I can no longer tell my children "Here comes the music truck!" and now I will look at their disappointed faces when I tell them, "No, not today. That was only when Uncle Daniel was here." Unless I'm feeling overly generous as I was that day when my sweet brother Daniel was spending a few days with me to help me out with Grant and Kate! Daniel has been a great help to me and I have really appreciated his time this summer. Thanks, Daniel!

Wylie Super Target!

My sister Christina got a job working in the bakery of the new Target in Wylie! Grant and I went to go see her during the soft opening last Tuesday evening. There were quite a few people there but it wasn't too crazy. By the time we got there most of the opening activities were over but we got to visit with Christina during her dinner break. I think Grant wasn't too sure what to think of seeing Aunt Christina at Target all dressed in her white uniform and black hat! 8-)

Last Birthday Post!

Usually for the kids' birthdays we get together with my family for dinner, cake, and presents. However, this year was different as just about everyone in my family was out of town! So we had a couple family friends of ours come over for dinner and cake. It was a fun night! Here Grant is waiting anxiously for our company to arrive:

Silly Boys!

Listening to everyone sing Happy Birthday to her

Taking it all in...

The Pirate and the Angel!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the two of them. I said, "Say cheese!" and without skipping a beat Joel said, "Ay yi, Matey....Cheese!" 8)

Birthday Fun with Nana and Papa!

After naps on Kate's birthday, Nana and Papa came over! We had a really nice time with them and Kate got to open all of her presents from them and from Mommy and Daddy, too. There were even a few presents for Grant!

One of Kate's presents from Nana and Papa was a cute little dog that makes sounds of a real dog. It's just like Kate's dog Lucy, which she loves.

I didn't get a picture of Kate with her big present from Nana and Papa but I'm sure it will be in a later post soon. They gave her a new baby doll that you can feed "real" food and water, too. It wears diapers and even goes potty in the baby potty chair. She loves her new baby and has been playing with it quite a bit lately. It now has a spot in Kate's bed and is usually in the stroller or eating a bottle when she is awake! Kate is becoming such a good little mommy! 8-)

Thank you, Nana and Papa, for all the wonderful gifts and for coming over and sharing part of Kate's special day with us! We are so glad you were able to come over. Grant loves playing with his new car. The foam shapes in the bathtub are a big hit, too.

Kate's Birthday Day!

Kate's birthday was a week ago Saturday and she is now 3 years old! Her birthday fun began with a fun family trip to Costco to eat yummy pizza for lunch and to get a few groceries afterward. Grant and Kate love going to Costco so we didn't tell them that we had originally wanted to take them to ChuckECheese. After thinking more about it Joel and I decided Saturday would not be the best day to go to ChuckECheese, as it would be very crowed between all of the birthday parties. So I am sure we will go later during a less busy time.

This is how Kate has been smiling lately with her nose squinted while saying "cheese". Hopefully this is just a short phase and that we will get back to normal cutesy smiles! It was so sunny that day that she had to wear my sunglasses, as if she doesn't have enough of her own with her 7-8 pair! I finally got smart and put a pair in my purse and now everyone is happy! :-)
Kate's shirt says "This Little Angel is 3 Today!"

eating yummy pizza!

Last Day with Beth!

Beth has been Kate's speech therapist since last September. She has come almost every week to our house since then to work with Kate for an hour. Kate has really become quite fond of Beth and always gets so excited when she comes. Upon turning 3 Kate aged out of the program so July 16 was her last day with Beth. Beth brought donuts as a special treat and a present for both Kate and Grant. She is so sweet and nice! We will miss her for sure and plan on keeping in touch!

More Fun With Aunt Jenni!

Kate is waiting very patiently for her 2nd day out with Aunt Jenni! After getting her all dressed, we got her backpack ready and her car seat by the front door. I said to her, "How about you put your backpack by the front door?" So Kate did and then she proceeded to sit down next to it, as you can see, and said to me, "Sit" meaning, "I'm going to sit right here." So I said, "You're going to sit there and wait for Aunt Jenni?" and she answered by nodding. So she sat there for a good 10 minutes until Aunt Jenni got here!

They had another fun day together and Grant and I were able to get a lot of work done. I'm so thankful for both. It is so great to work with Grant without Kate around to be distracting. We are making a lot of progress this summer and every chance I get to work with him one-on-one helps so much. Grant really wanted to go with Aunt Jenni this time but we told him that his turn was next. It just didn't work out for him to go that particular day, but he did, however, get to go the following week, which was this past week. More on that later....

Thank you, Jen, for giving Grant and me another great day of working together and for loving on Kate!

Fun with Aunt Jenni!

A couple weeks ago my sister Jen watched Kate for the day so I could have some one on one time with Grant to get lots of program done with him. It was so nice of her to love on Kate for the day and for Kate to get some extra attention. As much as she loves Grant, it is also really good for her to have a little break from him, too. Grant and I got lots of work done at home and enjoyed a nice lunch date together at Chick-fil-A.
Kate had so much fun with Aunt Jenni and they came home with lots of goodies from Kate's favorite store, Target! We had church that night and when we came home she was showing us all of her stuff. By this time it was going on 9:30 at night and Kate just wanted to keep playing. I told her that it was time to go to bed and all I got was "No." We made a special place for her new coloring books on her shelf and put all of her shoes in her room and the rest of her stuff when in her new favorite bag - the bag that Aunt Jenni gave her birthday presents in. She carries that bag everywhere and it travels all around the house! Somehow she felt better about going to bed with all of her stuff in her room. Silly girl!

Very seriously showing me her "mimmie" book:

The next morning this is what I woke up to:

Kate had moved all of her "stuff" from her room out to the living room and was happily coloring in one of her new coloring books. Her new shoes were lined up on the table, and the rest of her stuff was in front of the coffee table next to her pillow, snuggly, and stuffed dogs that she sleeps with. She made me laugh and I couldn't help but grab the camera. :-)
Thanks, Jen, for lovin' on my girl and for giving me a great day with Grant!

Birthday Fun Begins!

Aunt Jenni (and Uncle Shawn) gave Kate her birthday presents early since they were going to be gone out of town over her birthday. The next morning Kate was literally begging me to play with her new play dough from Aunt Jenni so I said, "Sure" because I'm so nice. :-) It's a monkey play dough set and the kids had so much fun with it. It's been awhile since we've gotten new play dough so they had extra fun! ;-)

Kate, wearing her super cute new outfit from Aunt Jenni!

Grant, working hard on his play dough

Thanks, Aunt Jenni!!!

Kid's Kingdom!

A few weeks ago my friend Sharee called and asked if we wanted to meet up at the park. I don't like going to this park by myself with just the kids because Grant is prone to random wandering at parks like this one but Kate will stay close by. So it's me constantly having to be looking for Grant to see where he went and then go chase after him. My brother Daniel was helping me out for a few days (Thank you Daniel!!!) and so we finished up program for the morning and loaded up. We were only there for about 45 minutes but I was pleasantly surprised by Grant. For the first 20-25 minutes or so he was within about 10-15 feet...and playing so nicely with Kate. I kept looking around for him to see which way he went and when I found him he was right in front of my nose! Sharee and I were actually able to have several conversations and it was really nice! It wasn't until after we were there for awhile that he thought to venture around the rest of the park and then found the swings. Again, I was really proud of him on the swings as he was trying to pump while I was coaching him. I said, "Keep your legs together!" and he did. He was starting to get the hang of it. Between him staying close, playing appropriately with Kate, and trying to pump himself on the swing, I was really encouraged! These are things that I know he could not / would not do prior to starting NACD.

can you see grant??

Water Fun

These are from our recent trip to Harriet Myers park in Rockwall. Sometimes we meet up with my sister in law and her kids when we go. Grant and Kate love going there and it sure is a cheap and fun way to cool off in the summer!

cousins: Mike, Timothy, and Michelle

peek-a-boo!

Icecream Date with Grant!

A couple weeks ago Grant and I went out for an ice cream treat, just the two of us. It was really nice and a sweet time with Grant. While most of my day is spent on Grant, I hardly ever have time with him to just enjoy Grant and to have one-on-one time with him. It's always working with him, redirecting him, disciplining him, checking on him (to see what trouble he is into), feeding him, etc., etc. So I desperately need time like this with Grant - time to just 'chill' and enjoy the sweet boy that he really is. Sometimes I feel like he is a different kid when it's just him and me.
He hadn't been to the ice cream shop before and he had fun picking out the candy to go in his ice cream. He had a hard time deciding between two different candy choices but he eventually decided on m&m's. Kate gets an m&m when she goes potty in the potty chair and so m&m's are a big deal around our house. So it was pretty cute that he picked those, since he doesn't get much at home but always asks for one. I have to tell him, "No, Kate gets one because she went pee-pee in the potty." You can imagine that he was pretty excited getting his own ice cream with m&m's in it. He ate it all up and then wanted to eat mine!
I really need to do more things like this with Grant. It wasn't much that we did but it sure was a sweet time together. He was such a sweet boy and I could tell he was really enjoying our little date!