Melody's Toons

Dress Like a Cow Day

2010-07-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago was 'dress up like a cow' day at Chick-fil-A and if you do so, you get to eat your entire meal for free! Earlier that week I planned a lunch date at Chick-fil-A with two of Grant's teachers from school last year not realizing that it was cow day. My first thought was to reschedule knowing that it would be really crazy, but then I went with my second thought and that was that it would be a lot of fun - embrace the craziness! The kids had a lot of fun being cows and really got into it. I think this may be the 1st of many cow days to come! :-)

Four Years Old!

2010-07-21T13:07:00.001-07:00

My sweet Kate turned 4 this past Sunday! She is really growing up, sometimes too fast. So on Monday she had her 4 year check up in the morning and then in the afternoon she had a check up with her eye doctor. This check up was to see how her vision and eyes are doing after a couple months of wearing glasses. She is doing well with her glasses and can see SO much better with them. She is severely near sighted and the doctor said she can see clearly about 6 inches in front of her nose! She is still seeing things for the first time and I am so thankful for her glasses! After two doctor appointments in the same day, I thought Kate deserved a nice treat so we stopped at Henry's IceCream shop in Plano. Kate got Dinosaur Egg flavor, but only because it had dinosaur in the name. She is really likes dinosaurs. :-) I settled for chocolate mint, one of my all time favs! Here are a few pics from our little date together:

I'm Back!

2010-06-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. Somewhere along the lines I dropped off of blogger planet! Here's what has been happening in our lives since the last post:

- Kate got potty trained.
- Grant, too - Praise the Lord!
- fixed up our house to sell it
- filled an 10x20 storage unit with stuff from our house
- our washer machine flood over half of the house
- put the house on the market, after fully recovering from the flood
- got a contract in two days!
- found a new house
- Kate had another seizure
- we moved!
- celebrated 9 years of marriage!
- I finished up the year working at our church's Mother's Day Out
- Kate finished her 1st year at Mother's Day Out
- Kate had another seizure
- Grant finished 3 1/2 years of preschool at Public School and we said goodbye to his beloved teacher of 3 1/2 years...rough day!
- June 7 began the 1st official day of summer and of me back to working with Grant every day all day
- and more!

It's been non-stop the past few months and I'm ready for life to slow down quite a bit. Having both kids home over the summer will definitely help with that, I know. The days seem much, much longer and I know we will have to be creative in coming up with ways to help me get through it! I'm working with Grant and Kate doing our home based therapy program and it feels great to be 'back in the swing' of things with program. It was really hard to get anything done with Grant with everything else going on, and pretty much since December I have hardly worked with him at all, I'm sad to say. However, we did accomplish potty training with Grant - which is HUGE - and we worked on behavior quite a bit. I am really encouraged so far: this is Day 3 of working with them and more than one time today, both kids asked to "work!" How can I say no to that!

Last summer I mostly concentrated on working just with Grant. Kate could do most of the activities but I didn't make her. Most of the time she was happy to play by herself and have her own time. This summer I can tell is going to be quite different - and for the better! Kate loves working with me with Grant and just by herself with me. It is awesome! I am so encouraged by her eagerness to learn and to work hard. Her speech is behind quite a bit - not severe like Grant but still behind - and so I am working with her right along with Grant.

Hopefully, I will start blogging more regularly and get some pictures up soon! Happy Summer!

Thanksgiving!

2009-12-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year was a bit nontraditional for us: we went camping! Since Joel and I have been together we have not been gone one time during a holiday. With both of our families here in town it makes it easy to stay home. So it was a little different being gone over Thanksgiving. The last time we went camping was over 3 years ago and Kate was barely 3 months old. (I know, what was I thinking?!?)
The best part about camping this time was to see Grant and Kate enjoy camping. They loved playing in the tent and being outside all day. We got flashlights for them before we left and they loved playing with those, too. They still play with them everyday and Kate's sleeping bag is still in her room next to her bed. I'm not sure if it will ever make it back to the garage! I guess you could say that she is somewhat possessive over her "stuff"!
Grant rode his bike the whole time when he was not eating or sleeping. Kate rode her bike some, too, but also played on the swings and ran around chasing the ducks.
We went with a couple of our family friends from church and also Daniel and Christina, my brother and sister. We've been camping with my brother and sister before and it's always fun when they go with us. I didn't take very many pictures, though, so this is mostly all of them:

Kate and Jack

Within minutes of getting our tent set up, Kate was inside getting all of her "stuff" just how she wanted it. She played in the tent for over an hour just having fun with everything you see in the picture. I only brought a few toys but she just loved being inside the tent.

"tent time" before bed on the 2nd night

Christina and I bundled up around the campfire, trying to stay warm!

It's not everyday that one gets to go camping with her piano student! ;-)

Turkey Trot '09!

2009-12-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

The kids and I walked the Turkey Trot this year with my older sister, Jennifer, and two of my brothers, David and Daniel. Although it was pretty chilly when we first woke up, it made for a great day by the time we started walking. We bundled the kids up and they had a great time. At one point Grant was getting restless so we switched strollers and then had him walk with us for a little bit. He loved that and it was great for him to use up some of his energy! He was running to keep up with us since Jen and I were walking at a quick pace. This is my 3rd time to participate in the Trot and it is always so much fun! Hopefully next year I will be in better shape and will be able to jog the 5k like I did last year!

My Big Girl!

2009-11-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

I took Kate to get her first "real" haircut a couple of weeks ago. I say real because this is her first haircut at a salon. I've cut her hair a handful of times but I have had a hard time getting it cut straight because surprisingly so she won't sit still long enough! Also, cutting curly hair can be tricky when it comes to layers. I have tried but I was ready to step aside and let the professional take over! So I took her to my hair lady, Rosa, who is amazing. She was able to even it up and put in some long layers. I love how it turned out and I love even more how still Kate was the whole time. She was like a statue and looked very sleepy. I kept asking her if she was sleepy and she said seriously, "No."
Every now and then she would look at me and say, "Mommy?"

so sleepy!

Can you see how serious she looks?? This is how she was the whole time!

Family Fun at the Park

2009-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

After Grant and Kate's last baseball game we went to the park and had a really sweet time with the kids. The weather was overcast and slightly cool which left the park pretty much to ourselves. We didn't have too much going on that day and so we didn't worry about the time and just had some good old fashioned fun! I wish we had more days and times like this. I'm finding that sometimes times like this just need to be planned and that it is ok!

Buddy League!

2009-11-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

It's been two weeks since Grant's last baseball game with Buddy League. He only had 3 games because the other 3 were rained out. Kate got to play in the last two because a lot of kids didn't show up. She absolutely loved playing baseball and it was so fun to watch the two of them "playing" baseball! Thank you to our sweet friends and family who came out to watch them with us! It really meant a lot to Joel and I and to Grant and Kate. I can't wait until the Spring when baseball starts back up again. For now, here are some pictures from this season:

Thank you, Aunt Jenni for taking the group shot!

Nana with Grant and Kate, who is apparently enjoying her snack. ;-)

Grant is getting his trophy at the end of the last game.

Uncle Daniel was Grant's buddy.

Aunt Christina was Kate's buddy.

Country Carnival!

2009-11-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

On Halloween we went to our church's carnival from 5:30-8:30 and we had so much fun! The weather was perfect and the kids behaved themselves for the most part. We were there almost the whole time, which I did not anticipate the kids to make it that long. This was really the first year that both of them had any interest in playing all of the different games. Grant has always liked the fire truck and bounce houses but everything else he could care less for! So Joel took Grant to the bounce houses and I took Kate around to play games. After each game, she got a piece or two of candy and ate it by the time she got to the next game. It seemed like she always had a piece of candy in her mouth the whole night! Towards the end of the evening, I did tell her that she had had enough and needed to stop eating it. She just kind of looked at me like, "Huh? Why should I stop eating my candy?" But she was being so cute that I didn't mind too much. This night only comes once a year so it's not too bad, right? ;-)

Romo, dog owner, Dalmatian, and a BumbleBee

Nana stopped by on her way home from work to see the kids in their costumes.

trying to play and game while eating candy. 8-)

Kate really liked getting a bumble bee painted on her cheek!

still eating candy!

Grant, so happy in his Dalmatian costume. He loves it so much!

Early in October I talked to Grant and Kate about what they wanted to dress up as and each of them looked through the Party City catalog. Grant didn't take too long until he saw the Dalmatian costume and declared that was what he wanted. Kate took her time and looked intently at each costume. When she saw the bumble bee, she said, "Bubble bee!!!"
So that was that and I they really surprised me because anytime we talked about it from that point on, they not one time changed their minds! Kate's costume was easy: bought it at Party City as a set with all of the pieces. Grant's, on the other hand, wasn't. The Dalmatian costume was too small for him and I couldn't find one that was big enough. So I decided to make his costume. At first I was going to do something simple that involved white shirt and pants and felt circles sewn on, but I could not find white pants anywhere! So I went to Hobby Lobby to buy material to make white pants and low and behold, I found Dalmatian print fabric! So then I decided to make pajama top and bottoms for his costume. This was he could wear them for more than just Saturday night. It was a tad bit stressful making it, as it wasn't until Friday evening that I found the material and decided to make it. And then I didn't get finished until 4pm Saturday, an hour and a half before the carnival started!

The best part of it all was on Saturday morning. During breakfast I showed Grant the Dalmatian print fabric and I said, "Grant, what does this look like?" He looked at it, smiled, and said "Ne ma neigh!" (That is how he says Dalmatian.) Of course, I was so excited and happy that he knew exactly what it was. I showed him his pants that I made the night before and the pieces that I was going to use for his shirt and he payed attention to me. Throughout the morning, he looked at me and said, "Thank you, Mama!" So sweet and definitely made it all worth it!!! He loved wearing it Saturday night and was very proud to tell everyone what he was. He's worn it several times since then and I love seeing him running around it in. Makes my heart smile! :-)

Grandma's Visit

2009-11-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

4 Generation picture: My Grandma Bev, my mom, me, and Kate! (and my two sisters, Jen and Christina!)

My Grandma Bev came to visit all the way from Seattle and these are pictures from our lunch at the Chocolate Angel. We had a nice time and it was really great to see my grandma. I haven't seen in her over 5 years and she got to meet Kate for the first time!

Fun at the Farm!

2009-11-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Grant had a school field trip to Owen's Farm. I was able to go with him and it was fun hanging out with him and his class. We started with feeding the goats, which Grant thought was pretty cool. Then we went on a hay ride, which Grant really liked. In this picture he was signing and saying "eat!" as we saw the horses eating grass. Then we saw some horses, ate lunch, took pictures in the pumpkin patch and then picked out a pumpkin to take home. All in all it was a great day and it wasn't until the end that Grant was wearing out and getting really whiney. But soon enough he was back on the bus and couldn't be happier. He LOVES riding on the bus and smiled all the way to the farm and back. The last picture says it all by his smile!

Late night phone calls...

2009-11-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

Every night Grant goes to bed with his dog, phone, blanket, bear, Woody, Baa, and Flops. The only time he doesn't go to bed with any one of these is when he his behavior has been really bad at school or home. One night when I checked on Grant before going to bed, this is how I found him, except his eyes weren't squinting. I had to turn the light on to get a good picture and the light made him squint his eyes. If you look closely, you'll see his phone in the "talking" position. 8-)

After 9 months of doing NACD....

2009-10-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

.....this is what we get from Grant: (in the most whiniest little kid voice ever, btw)

"Idonwannawork"

"buIdonwanto"

"Idonwannagotobed"

He just started saying these phrases over the last couple of weeks and today he said, - for the 1st time ever - "butidonwannagotobed." I just looked at him shaking my head and chuckling. I really am just shocked sometimes at what comes out of his mouth. Yesterday when Joel and I were working with him, he said to us, "butIdonwantowork" and we just looked at each other and said, "Did he really just say that???"
These sentences are called "chunks" which means several words said as one word, not as separate, or individual words. But I am thinking we are not going to work on "de-chunking" these sentences! 8-)
He's going to have to be a little more creative if he thinks saying these things to us is going to get him out of working with me or out of going to bed!

Grant, you are a silly boy and I love you so much!

Day at the Fair!

2009-10-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

A week ago Monday Joel and I made a last minute decision to take the kids to the Texas State Fair. We have briefly talked about it but didn't really decide one way or the other until 9am that morning. Joel was already planning on taking half day of vacation that afternoon and Grant was off of school Monday and Tuesday so if we were going to go, Monday was going to be the best day to do so. Joel and I have been several times before, actually on our 3rd date we went to the fair! But we haven't taken the kids before. Maybe Grant when he was a baby but honestly I can't remember. It's one of those "did we take Grant? ..."

So the kids and I got ready while Joel was on his way home from work and when he came home, we all left. We started out at the Midway and Grant and Kate rode a few rides. Grant and Joel went down the big slide first thing and Grant was really upset that we wouldn't let him go again. Once he realized that there were more rides to go on and that he was going to get to ride on some of them, he was fine. Poor guy, life is rough sometimes, huh? ;-)

Their favorite ride was the "choo choo". They kept talking about it throughout the rest of the day and because Joel and I thought they were so cute (and good) we ended the day with them riding the "choo choo" one more time. I have to say, it was a lot of fun as parents watching our kids have so much fun on the rides. We don't do things like this very much so it was pretty neat for us to experience.

After riding rides, we went to a dog show. Both kids are nuts about dogs so it makes sense to take your dog crazy kids to a dog show, right? It was probably boring for them but they did like watching the dog catch all of the frisbies and jump in the water. It was only 20 minutes so it was done at the same time the kids were done. Worked out perfect!

After the dog show, we went to the petting zoo and as we were walking up towards the entrance we hear a kid say, "Hi Grant!" Who could it be but our good friends from church! It was so crazy meeting up with them and it was really cool because we got to hang out with them for the whole afternoon!

We had such a great time at the fair and the weather was nice, too. It was overcast and threatened to rain but it really was nice. Joel and I were really proud at how well Grant and Kate did. I'm not saying that they were perfect, but overall they were pretty good and they really liked being at the fair. Joel and I had a good time, too. We definitely made a great memory and I can't wait to scrapbook our day at the fair! :-)

I won't post all of the pictures because I took so many but here are the highlights:

Joel and Grant coming down

the "choo choo"

our good friends, The Scott Family!

see how cute the baby piggies are?

"don't think I'm taking a nap; I'm only sleeping for 5 minutes." (she really did only sleep for 5 minutes - little stinker!)

God is so good!

2009-10-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

These two pictures are pictures that I have taken and developed for the purpose of working with Grant on words that we want him to say, or to say better. It is one of the many program activities that we do every day. We work on 8 new photos each week and this one is one of his for this week:

Grant says "paw" for "stop". I'm not quite sure how 'paw' is 'stop' but that is what comes out when he tries to say 'stop'. Stop is a word we use quite often and so I thought it would be a good word to work on for getting the /st/ sound going. Now for the reason of this post: This morning when we were working on his language photos, Grant looked at this picture and said while pointing to each letter, "ess, tee, o, pee!" I just sat there for a moment and was so encouraged by this for several reasons. First, he can recognize those letters. Second, he can say the name of each one. Third, he can say the names of them one after another without long pause or hesitation. But most of all, he had enough focus and attention to point and say each letter. This is so huge for him and a huge amount of progress for him! It made me realize that his focus and attention really is getting better and this encourages me so much.
I love that he is learning his letters and able to go from one sound to the next. Six months ago if I asked him to say three random words or sounds back to me, he couldn't do it. This is part of apraxia - not being able to flow from one word or sound to another very easily. So for him to say one letter after another is huge, speech-wise! And for his interest to hold is huge, too, for Grant!
I so vividly remember going to one speech therapist 2 1/2 years ago and her so candidly telling Joel and I that she simply could not work with him because of his lack of focus and attention. And Joel and I both know that in order to work on articulation, he really needs to be able to focus in on what we are trying to get him to say. She basically showed us her door and told us to come back after we have worked on improving his focus and attention. Not only did we leave very discouraged, but I was pretty depressed by it. I know she was right but it still was so hard to hear.
Honestly, it's moments like those that have been the hardest in accepting my son for who he is and for realizing that he isn't the child that I had hoped and dreamed about for months and years prior to entering parenthood. There's nothin' that can prepare you for having a kid with special needs. BUT the Lord is loving and kind AND faithful and he lifts me up when I am down. He gave me Grant for a very special reason and God is teaching so much through him. I can't imagine my life without him and I love him so much! When I think about knowing Christ, it's hard for me to imagine how parents of a special needs child make it who don't know the Lord.
So from now on I'm pretty sure that every time I look at a stop sign, I will remember the moment Grant and I had this morning, and it will encourage me to 'keep on keepin' on!' Isn't God good? He really is!

1st Trip to the Dentist!

2009-10-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last week Grant had his first visit with the dentist, and we are so thankful that it was through Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. I did not even know that they had a dental clinic until Dr. Adams referred us to them! We have been going there for over a year now working with Dr. Adams, their Developmental Pediatrician.
Due to Grant's oral motor sensory issues, going to the dentist has not been something I have looked forward to. Teeth brushing has not happened much with Grant, as he has hated it forever. Literally, we have had to hold him down just to brush his teeth. Let me tell you, it's not fun at all. So with all of the other battles with Grant, teeth brushing has unfortunately gone to the way side.
With all of that said, you can imagine my very pleasant surprise when the dentist told me his teeth look overall pretty good! Yesterday he went back for a sedation visit to get x-rays done and his one cavity filled. ONE cavity! Praise the Lord for good teeth 'cause it's not from this Mama developing good brushing habits!
I am very happy to report that through lots and lots of oral motor stimulation activities that I have done with Grant through his therapy program, he really has overcome his hatred to brushing teeth and this past month has been the best ever as far as brushing teeth goes. He is better than Kate, if you can imagine that! We still have to tell him not to bite as I am trying to brush but he is getting better and better. But I am so encouraged and more motivated than ever to stay on top of brushing teeth. And I am so very thankful for God's provision for excellent dental care! God is so good.

Ten Years Ago Today....

2009-10-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

...Joel and I went on our first date! 8-)

Buddy League!

2009-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am so excited; I just want to jump up and down!

A week ago Friday I just happened to talk to a mom in Grant's class who's son is buddies with Grant at school. His name is Jacki and Grant talks about him all the time when I pick him up from school. What is funny is that Jacki's mom told me at Open House - when I met her for the first time - that Jacki always talks about Grant every day! Cracks me up!

So I was talking to her about getting our boys together to play sometime. I mentioned Saturdays about getting together and she said they are about to get busy with Buddy League. I asked her what that is and she told me all about it: It's baseball for kids with special needs and that her son loves it and that Grant would, too. Later she gave me the info about it, and I just got off the phone with the lady who is in charge. Grant is now all signed up and starts on October 3! His team is the Giants and he will have a team shirt with his name on it, too. How cool is that?

You can check out buddy league here!

Pretty Cool

2009-09-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

This afternoon when I picked Grant up from school, his teacher told me that Grant is talking so much at school that she almost had to tell him to "zip it!" She said he's talking in 2 and 3 words sentences all of the time and that it is unbelievable. I said in response, "So you can tell a big difference, huh?" and she said, "Oh yeah!" This just makes me so happy and at times throughout the day I am in shock at some of the words that come out of his mouth.
On the way home from school, we helped a neighbor boy get home after being bit by a dog. We brought him to our house first to clean him up. (His grandma doesn't come home until later.) Grant and Kate were very interested in Chad's "boo boo" and later Grant called Joel on his pretend phone and said, "Dada? Cha bi by a do." He told him that Chad got bit by a dog, leaving the ending sound off of each word. I was like, wow, another 4 word sentence!
Pretty cool, huh? :-)

"Hi Mama! I wu You!"

2009-09-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

I don't think I will ever forget these words from Grant last Thursday morning on Sept. 3! I was cleaning him up after breakfast and the words just flowed right out of his mouth. After he said it, he gave me a big hug and I just squeezed him so tight. (He has been getting really good at saying "Hi" and then someone's name. It's really cool. This afternoon he said, "Hi Nenni" to my sister Jen, who to Grant and Kate she is Aunt Jenni. He has always said just "Hi" so it was so cool to hear him say "Hi Nenni!") He has been able to say "I wu you" for awhile but this time was different. He said two sentences back to back that flowed naturally, no prompting, no pauses, no chunking...just came right out! I was a bit emotional the rest of the day just thinking about him saying that to me. I have waited so long for him to say those words. I am so thankful to the Lord for Grant's progress and much it blesses me. I love this guy so much and love hearing him talk to me!

And in other very exciting, record breaking news, yesterday and today Grant has gone potty in the toilet at school several times and he stayed dry all afternoon and evening by going potty in the toilet when he needed to!!! Can I say Praise the Lord??? Joel and I are sooooooo thrilled by this. I can not even tell you. I just hope and pray this continues and for now my prayer is that he will be potty trained before the kid turns 6 in December!

Family Fun!

2009-09-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon we rode the DART train just for fun and ate dinner out half way through. Grant and Kate love riding the train and it is pretty cheap for all four of us to go and makes for some great quality family time. We hardly ever eat out as a family so this was a special treat for all of us. Although Grant and Kate did okay during dinner, they quickly reminded us by their behavior why we only go to "kid" restaurants when we eat out together!
My camera is somewhat broken; the part that holds the batteries in came off and is now lost, so I am using my cell phone camera in the meantime. The pictures only come out good when everything is very still. Most objects of pictures I am taking are not very still at all. ;-)

Grant was almost mesmerized by the train when it started to go. He loves it so much!

Grant and Kate being so good!

This is at the restaurant where we ate. She really liked watching the water and the birds that would come and go.

At the very end as we were walking back to our car, Grant looked back at the train and said, "Bye, Choo-choo!" Joel and I looked at each other immediately after he said that and smiled very excitedly. He has been able to say "Hi" with someone's name when working with me on his language photos (an activity that we do during our at-home program) for several weeks but just recently he has gotten more comfortable in saying it in natural conversation. A few days ago he started saying "Hi Dog" to his dog and "Hi Mama" and "Hi Kate." Sometimes he says "bye" to Kate, his dog, and me. Sometimes to Joel. So for him to say it to the choo choo was a surprise and a first! Oh how we love "1st's" around here! Hearing him say that made a perfect ending to our day. And a gift. Thank you, Lord!

1st Days of School!

2009-09-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

For Grant it was back to school on August 24. Although he has been going to preschool for the last 2 1/2 years, this year is a big change for us (and him) as he is going all day instead of 1/2 day. So far he has done great, although after school behavior has not been that great. He loves school and is always excited to go. I am so thankful for this. He is in the preschool program for children with disabilities (PPCD) and he has the same teachers as he has had for the past 2 1/2 years. We love his teachers and they are so great with him. (Ms. Mary, we miss you!!!)

Here he is with his dog, which was Grant's idea to grab his dog and hold him for the picture. I thought, sure, why not? Kind of cute, huh? :-) This is his dog that Nana gave him for his birthday and he loves him so much. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks he is real. ;-) What is really cool is that Grant just started saying, "Hi Dog!" instead of just "Dog!" and it makes Joel and I smiled so much. Thank you again, Nana, for Grant's dog! He still is very much in love with him as he was on the 1st day!

Here is Miss Kate ready for her first day of "school" at Sonshine Connection at our church's Mother's Day Out program. We have been talking about school for so long and she has been so excited. She had a great first day and shook her head "yes" when I asked if she wanted to go back!

A Four Word First!

2009-08-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today while at Costco with some friends eating lunch and getting some groceries, Grant looked at me and casually said, "I....want....more....water." I looked at my friend and said, "He just said his first four word sentence!" For several weeks now he has been saying, "I...want...water" but today he plugged in 'more' and used it very appropriately, as he had already had a lot to drink and I kept telling him that he couldn't have any more!

Other news related to Grant: He is counting to three! It goes like this, "One...two...phree!" If you are reading this and a mom or have been around children a lot, you know that counting "one two three" is used all of the time, like "ready set go!" So for him to be counting to three is just fabulous. He just started saying 'one', a few weeks ago he started counting "one two" and then last week he started counting to three. While he understands the concept of counting to five, one of his goals at school is to verbally count to three. This goal has been on his program at school since last fall. And now in one summer, after working with him a ton, we are getting there!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!

Prayers for Mary

2009-08-08T10:49:00.001-07:00

This is one of Grant's teacher's aides, Ms. Mary. She has been one of Grant's teachers since he started preschool 2 1/2 years ago. We have grown close to Mary through our school relationship and she is a really sweet woman. She and Grant have a special relationship, and he just loves her so much.

Thursday afternoon Mary called me to tell me some news: She won't be returning to school this fall because she just found out she has Leukemia. She wanted to tell me before school started so we wouldn't find out during open house. We are so saddened to hear this and I am still in shock. Right now she is in the hospital getting chemo treatments, which have already started. She will be back and forth between home and the hospital over the next several months. Please pray with us for her! She is married and has a 14 year old daughter at home. Also, please pray that God will help me to reach out to her as I can. She is the first friend for me that has gotten cancer and I'm not really sure what to say, what to do. It's hard to relate to someone when you haven't walked down their path. I can only imagine what it is like for her and her family to go through this. Please also pray for Grant's teacher Patsy as she starts the school year without Mary. Patsy is Grant's special ed teacher and Mary and Paula have been a team with Patsy for 8 years. I know they are really close and it will be so hard not to have Mary their with them under the circumstances. School will not be the same without her, but I am trusting in the Lord that God has it under control in who he will use to replace her during this time!
Thanks for lifting her up with us!

What Happened to my Boy???

2009-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Normally Mondays around here are full of tiredness and crankiness. Today...today is a gift from above! And I just want to shout about it from the rooftops. Instead, I will just shout about it from my blog! :-)

All morning long Grant has been talking soooo much saying without any prompts, "I want water" "My name Grant" "I want more".

This morning at the beginning of tv time (in a dark room - one of our activities), Grant tells me he needs to go potty. So I said, "Ok" and check his diaper. It was dry! AND he went pee pee in the toilet!!! What hope this gives me!

THEN when our tv time was over (20 minutes) Grant asks to watch MORE tv!!! This is the kid for years wouldn't hardly watch any tv, to speak of, and when we started watching it daily as a program activity, we constantly had to tell him to sit still and watch tv pretty much the whole time we were watching tv. He has gotten a lot better over the summer, and we are having to tell him less and less to sit still and to watch tv. Usually now just when we are watching a new movie. So today when he asked to watch MORE tv, I was in shock! Wonders of wonders!

All of this encourages me to keep on keeping on with Grant's daily program activities. Sometimes I get beat down and tired of working with him because it is draining physically and mentally but mornings like this make it all worth it.

My boy is making progress, and boy do I love it!!! Praise the Lord!

I know it's not the greatest picture but this is what it looks like during our tv time in a dark room. This picture was taken a few months ago when some friends were over to play. Trying to get program done, we all watched tv for a little while. When the older boy found out Grant had a tv in his room (it stays in the closet and only comes out during tv time) he thought it was so cool that Grant had a tv in his room. :-) And then the younger one asked why it was dark in his room, I said, "So it will be like a movie theatre!" Hmm...ok. cool. At least that's what I know he was thinking by the expression on his face!

Good bye, Horse!

2009-08-02T13:11:00.001-07:00

I'm sad to say that Kate has out grown her pretty pink horsey. A few months ago she slid off of it as she was rocking back and landed on her bottom. She didn't hurt herself but it surprise her more than anything and was kind of funny at the moment it happened. That's when I knew she was getting too big for it. I had put it in the garage around that time but somehow it ended up back in her room about a month ago. She did ride it some more but she kept sliding off the back when she rocked up on it. So now she is definitely too big for it and it has to go.

Good bye, Horsey. We sure will miss your cute, pink, girlie-ness!

Lately, Grant has been into wanting his picture taken. Isn't he a sweet boy with his arm lovingly around his sister? I need to look at this more often so I will think to myself, "They really do love each other!" Sometimes with all the fighting that goes on between them, I feel like I am about to loose my mind!

Tutu Time!

2009-08-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Kate and I went to a birthday party for a sweet little girl who just turned 1. She wore a tutu at her party and was the cutest thing ever! Kate was taking it all in and I noticed she was watching Miss Emmerson tuddle around in her tutu. I told Kate that she has a tutu at home and she could wear it later if she wanted. She just kind of nodded indicating that she might want to do that. (She's had a tutu for awhile but hasn't had much interest in wearing it.) So the next day on Sunday Kate wanted to wear her tutu as soon as we got home from church. And then she wanted to wear a necklace. And then she wanted to wear some bracelets. And of course the matching clippie....She got all dressed up and she actually wore it for more than 5 minutes!

still the cheesy 'cheeeesssse'

"playing" mario kart with Grant

time to sit down!

Kate hasn't really hit the dress up stage yet so it was fun seeing her play in her tutu. She was so cute walking around and being all fancy. So fun having a girl in the house! :-)

New Posts!

2009-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T13:09:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-07-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

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!

Happy Birthday, Christina!!!

2009-06-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe but my sweet sister Christina turns 18 today! I was 12 years old when she was born and I still remember the night she was born clear as day (or night since it was 4 in the morning). I remember my mom getting ready to go to the hospital in the evening and my sister, Jennifer, and I could hardly believe it. We were so excited. So we stayed up late watching Phantom of the Opera, the old black and white version! By the time it was over, no baby, and we were so tired so we went to bed. Probably that was a good choice since she wasn't born until way into the night.

One of the neat things about having Kate is how she reminds me of Christina sometimes. I remember Christina being a cute girl, sweet, and curious. When Kate gets into my make up and nail polish, I tell her, "You are just like your Aunt Nina!" :-) And at times when she is just so stinkin' cute I think the same thing!

Christina, you are a beautiful girl inside and out! I love how you love Grant and Kate. You are so good with them, and especially kind and loving towards Grant, which I know at times doesn't come easy. I am so excited for your future and all of the wonderful blessings God has in store for you! Christina, I love you so much and am so thankful that God brought you into my life!!!

Three Word Sentence!

2009-06-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today Grant said completely on his own, meaning without me telling him what to say, "I want snack" and "My name Grant." Woo-hoo!!! For a very long time we have been at 1 word sentences. For example: "Home?" "Eat?" "Bike!" These mean "Are we going home?" "Is it time to eat?" and "I want to ride my bike!" This morning he said "I want snack" but I had to tell him no because it was 20 minutes after breakfast and I really wasn't in the mood. Both kids have been very bad today and right now I am about to run away. However, Grant saying a 3 word sentence is something to be very excited about and I am very proud of him. And we are very proud of him for going potty three times in the toilet yesterday! Today, not so much but there is hope.

Anyone want to volunteer in potty training my sweet dyspraic boy??

NACD Update!

2009-06-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today was Grant's 2nd re-eval with NACD. We have these every 3 months, which means a 1 hour drive to Waxahachie, there for roughly 1 1/2-2 hours, and then a 1 hour drive back home. Grant did great today and my prayer for every time we go to something like this is that they will see the "real" Grant. Lyn, who evaluates him, said she can really see progress and change since 3 months ago. Sometimes it's hard to be objective when it comes to progress since we're with him 24/7 but here are a few things he is doing new and for the first time since the beginning of March:
- Grant can say "one" now! (When it came to any number he would previously say "two")
- He can wear rainboots and sandals without tripping! For the past 3 years he has worn only an athletic shoe (99%) of the time because he would trip over his own feet wearing any other type of shoe.
- He can repeat every letter of the alphabet!
- He is playing appropriately with more toys.
- He tries to say anything we ask him, even big words like watermelon and Dalmation.
- He is jumping like crazy, especially when he gets really excited about something he will just start jumping around. It's cute.
- /w/ is /w/ now and not "i yi i".
- He can unscrew and screw a screw using his play screwdiver. This might not sound like that big of deal but if you think about it, this type of activity takes some serious fine motor control!
- He really cries when he gets hurt, like you know by the sound of his cry that he is really hurting. Again, this might sound kind of weird but when your kid cries for literally 5 seconds after falling and getting a big goose egg on his forehead - that is not normal! So through part of the therapy we are doing at home, his body is starting to normalize and he is feeling things the way he should. Consequently, as he is feeling his body more and more, he is falling and tripping less and less! Praise the Lord!
- He is showing more emotion at times when he is sad or really upset. Grant has always been a pretty happy guy, which you would think is great, and for the most part it is - don't get me wrong - but it is also good to show emotion when you are really upset or sad, too! It is really neat to see this side of Grant.

Within the next couple of days we will get his program that will be much the same as the past three months but will be tweaked some according to the progress he is making. Also, a few activities will be added. My goal this summer is getting program accomplished everyday, shooting for 5 out of 7 days. When you think of us, you can pray for me to have patience and kindness towards Grant and discipline in getting program done. You can pray for Grant that he will continue to work really good with me during our "work" time together! Thanks!

Little Buddies!

2009-06-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

Kate loves to have "snuggle time" with me in my bed for a few minutes before she goes to bed for the night in her own bed. So when our good friends came over for dinner one night, Kate thought it was so fun to be in the big bed with Emma! Here they are in their pj's and snugglies close by:

You can see in Kate's face how "cool" she thought this was. Emma looks like she's thinking "Um, what am I doing in here?" :-)

Can't wait for sleep-overs, although it will be a few years from now!

Morning with Kate

2009-06-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was Grant's last day of school for the year and was filled up with speech therapy for Kate and then hanging out with Grant until school was over at 11:00. So with Thursday being a busy morning, I reserved Wednesday for a fun morning with Kate.

We started out with breakfast close to where we live. I love eating breakfast food any time of day and Kate does, too. I asked Kate where else she wanted to go and she said Target. We don't go there too often so I was little unsure of why she wanted to go there but every time we talked about "our morning" she told me she wanted to go to Target. So later I asked her what she wanted to do at Target and she said "Play." I said, "You can't play at Target. You buy stuff. What do you want to buy?" And she said, "Socks!" Ohhh, now I understood. Every now and then I'll pick up a pair or two of socks from the dollar spot and she loves them! So first thing when we got to Target, she said "Socks" seriously, like we had to find and look for them right now, not in a demanding way but in a reminding me way. I laughed, she was so funny! We picked out a couple patriotic pairs and found a few other things. She was thrilled and held onto them until we got home, 3 hours later! Here we are at breakfast:

Leaving Target with our fun purchases!

In the car still holding onto those socks!

This summer we will have to try harder to have 'Mommy and Me' time with Grant being home all day but we like having Grant home, too. Summer has begun and so far it is going good! I'm sure we will have a few rough days here and there but anticipating those really helps a lot. My goal this summer is to: 1. Work with Grant everyday with NACD program, 2. get back on track with diet and exercise and 3. hang out with friends!

Hard at Play!

2009-06-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

I love seeing Grant play like this:

Not only was he playing appropriately AND playing very nicely with Kate but he was using his creative imagination and making his train tracks go under his bed. I tried getting a picture of him "working" under his bed but couldn't get a good one. He would crawl under his bed and work on his train and play.
Shh! Kate is hiding under the bed! 8-)

Sticker Feet

2009-06-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

I bought some stickers a few weeks ago for positive reinforcements while working with Grant and for some great eye/hand and finger coordination for Kate. Grant doesn't really get into stickers much but Kate loves them! She was having so much fun putting them all over one of her feet. I'm not sure where she got that idea from but she sure was proud of herself and knew that she was being silly. She is a silly girl!

Helping Hands

2009-06-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

The kids, especially Grant, love to "help" me water the flowers in the front yard. Grant actually does a pretty good job and he will water for 15-20 minutes. Not bad, huh? :-)

Kate is helping by being cute!

New Swings!

2009-05-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Joel replaced the ropes on the kids swings with fresh, brand new, soft ropes! Thank you, Daddy!!!

Mr. Handy Man ;-)

Our Last Zoo Trip....

2009-05-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

to the Dallas Zoo, for awhile anyways. Last year we went to the Zoo for the first time and got a family membership. We've gone several times over the past year but unfortunately the lion, elephant, and gorilla died shortly after we got our pass! So we have decided to try out the Fort Worth Zoo next time and pass on renewing our membership. Here are some cute pics from our last trip of the year:

On the Monorail, which the kids loved! They thought the train was pretty neat.

Before we left I thought it would be fun to snap a picture of the kids sitting on this wall, for the scrapbook, of course, but Grant and Kate were being such stinkers, as you can tell. Oh well, at least I got a few laughs when looking at these pictures later!

Almost a cute one!

"Mom, we are so done with this!"

Kate's Speech Eval

2009-05-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

This morning Kate was tested to see if she will qualify for speech therapy through public school once she turns three. Right now she is in the speech program through public school for children 0-3 years old. Once she turns 3 she will age out and will go to the elementary school of our choice to receive speech therapy. She doesn't qualify like Grant did for the preschool program but based on articulation she will qualify. She will be considered an "in building" kid which means I will take her up to school 1 or 2 times a week for 30 minutes. The exact times and days will be determined by the speech therapist at the school.

She did really good today during her testing. I am always anxious when it comes to any kind of testing because I never know how my kids will be and if they will show their true self. Kate did for the most part and toward the end was getting a little too comfortable as she threw herself on the floor pouting because she didn't want to do what the kind lady was asking her to do. Such a hard life being a 2 year old! Within a few days I'll get the full report.

Her speech is coming along but most of her words she doesn't say the ending sound. Book sounds like boo, and bus sounds like bu for example. She is starting to put two words together like "Pray me" or "Me pray" at the dinner table and "Grant no" and "Me bye-bye". I have to be careful what I say because sometimes when I tell Grant to stop acting like a brat, she will point to him and say "brat" but without the /t/ at the end! This morning in the car she was counting the school buses that she saw and was saying "two five two two five two" It was really cute. I guess she hasn't quiet gotten the hang of 1, 3, or 4, but we're working on that!

What I've been up to lately

2009-05-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Is creating a dark room. Sounds fun, huh? In December when we got Grant's 1st program with NACD, one of the activities is for him to watch tv in a dark room 3-5 feet away. Add to that: make sure he will not be able to play with the tv buttons. Just about all of you who read this blog have been to my house and know that it is small. It would be one thing if we had a spare room or something that we could make into a dark room but we don't so we were really stumped at what to do. At first Joel and I thought that there is no way we can do this one.

Well, five months later and about 5 brainstorms later we finally have a solution: Grant's room! All of his toys are put up in the closet and his room is the least distractable. Within about 24 hours of Joel and I coming up with this plan, we had bought a tv/vcr combo off Craig's list for $20, got about 30 VHS tapes from my mom (Thank you, Mom!), a black sheet to cover his window during the day, two extra pillows (to be comfy), and two yellow pillowcases. I went to my friend's house one night this week to sew on velcro to the sheet and then I put sticky velcro on the wall around the window. It works perfectly and we can put it up and take it down easily when we need to. We rearranged Grant's furniture to maximize being comfy on the bed while watching tv. So for the past couple of days, we have been watching tv throughout the day on Grant's bed in a dark room 3-5 feet away from us. It's been wonderful! I told Joel last night that this is my favorite activity now because I can actually relax (and snuggle) while 'working' with Grant, and I'm putting forth the least amount of energy for this activity. Joel said, "Well, this is what normal parents experience when their children!" Grant (and Kate) has never really watched tv much. We're not big tv watchers to begin with but he has always been more fascinated with the buttons than with what's on the screen.

It took up 5 months to figure this one out but I'm just so excited that we did. The rest of Grant's program is going well. I feel like I'm starting to come out of the 'adjustment phase'. I'm still learning what works and what doesn't and I'm still learning how to make it fun for Grant. Yesterday I gave him a pair of sunglasses after he worked really well with me and he seemed to like that. I've never done that before with him so I'm going to try to do more things like that. I also have a bunch of stickers, which both kids love, that I use after doing really good at a certain activity. Coming up with motivating things is hard for me. And with Grant it has to be random. For awhile I was giving him "candy" after he did a certain activity and he got to the point where that was all he was literally thinking about. It was like he couldn't even think about what he was supposed to do! Stickers are the same way. So I just try to change it up and that seems to help.

If you have any great ideas that you think might work with Grant, let me know! Also, if you have any old vhs tapes that you don't need or want, feel free to pass them on to Grant! Anything family friendly is great! You can keep praying that we will get program done everyday, that I will stay positive, and that Grant will cooperate more and more. Also, praise the Lord that things are going better now than they were before!

Two New Words!

2009-05-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Every now and then when I'm talking with friends and their kids are close by I sometimes catch myself saying a word that I probably wouldn't want them to repeat. Not like cussing but rather words like crap or stupid or butt. One thing about having speech delayed kids is you don't have this problem of them repeating bad words! Not that Joel and I are in the habbit of using bad words but there are times we might use the word stupid or dumb and don't even think about Grant or Kate repeating it.

Last night all four of us were out and as we were driving Joel and I were talking. Joel was telling me about what he thinks when he sees people pushing a Wal-mart cart down the road close to our house in between our house and Wal-Mart. He said, "It's so W T (white trash)." And from the back I hear Kate giggling and saying "de uh T". I turned around and looked at her. She thought "W T" was apparently really funny and was trying to say it. A few minutes later I said "Duh" (don't worry, it was a nice 'duh' and it will take me too long to go into the story) and right away Grant said "Duh". It was so funny. So two new words that my kids are saying: "W T" and "Duh".

Still makes me laugh when I think about it!

Beautiful Bluebonnets!

2009-04-23T17:43:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I went to take pictures of our kiddos in the bluebonnets. There is a huge patch real close to our church that you would never know was there unless someone mentioned it to you or if you just happened to be driving by. Kate had just fallen asleep about 5 minutes before we got there so she was grumpy and did not want anything to do with bluebonnets or sitting or smiling or being nice. All she kept saying was, "No. nooo. No. no. NO. nnoooooo." I was about to loose my mind! I am so thankful that we got at least one cute picture of each of them. Here is the best one of them together. You can tell Kate is still grumpy but it turned out cute anyways.

These few were some of the last ones we took. I was about to give up when my friend's little boy started to make her laugh. Thank you, Evan! You saved the day!

Grumpy pics

Grant was having a blast! He did think it was fun to pull the flowers which we quickly told him that was against the law and do not do it. Of course, that just made it more fun for him.

This last picture just makes me laugh. Grant is trying to be so sweet with his arm around Kate and Kate is still being a toot and trying to shrug him off. This picture captures how often they are towards one another. This is how it goes with them: If one is nice to the other, the other is not. If, however, 5 minutes later the other one decides to be nice, then the other one is not. Makes me go crazy sometimes!

"Jesus Died and Rose Again!"

2009-04-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

The title of this post was Grant's bible verse at Sunday School yesterday and his buddy, Val, who is also his private speech therapist, came up to me after church and said, "Grant said his bible verse today!" She was so excited and said she almost had tears in her eyes when he said it. He said it to me at church and then later that day to our friend's at their house. Today I asked him to say it again to see if he still remember it and he did. He doesn't say it all at once but with prompting but this is still so great!

It goes like this:
Me: "Jesus"
Grant: "Jesus" while signing for Jesus
Me: "died"
Grant: "di"
Me: "and rose again"
Grant: "ro a in" while raising his arms for rose again

Grant: big smile :-)

Joel and I are just thrilled. This is his first bible verse to ever say and what a gift it was to receive on Easter Sunday. It's because of this verse that we have hope for our future and that we can live with peace and joy in our hearts. May we never forget this verse!

Lookin' Cool!

2009-03-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Aunt Jenni, for my cool sunglasses! I'm stylin' now!

Me and my cool dog, the best dog ever!

Breakfast Date with Kate!

2009-03-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago Kate and I had breakfast at Family Cafe in Rowlett. Kate is with me a lot but we don't ever do anything "special", just the two of us. Mostly it's running to Walmart, cleaning house, going to the gym, playing at home, and so this time was different. She loves breakfast foods like me, and I was inspired by my friend Mikaela that my kids are not too young to start one on one dates. For awhile I have looked forward to when my kids get older and I can do stuff like this with them but after reading her blog entry one day I realized I can start now! Joel and I want to start taking one of the kids out just by themselves, even if it's just to the park, but something to get in some extra time with them to love on them and make them feel special. So thanks, Mikaela, for sharing about yours with your kiddos!

Fun with Aunt Christina and NACD update

2009-03-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Grant had his first re-eval with NACD. Christina watched Kate for us and took her to her friend's Rachel's house to see her goats. Kate loved it and even fed them, too. I thought she might be scared of them but she wasn't. Now anytime we talk about goats Kate says, "mmmmeeeeee" like a goat sound. :-)

Grant's eval went great. For the most part his program will stay the same for these next 3 months. A few things from the last 3 month's program have been taken off, a few things have been added, and a few things have been tweaked. Also, we were able to talk to Lyn about our frustrations with some parts of the program and she was great in giving us some ideas to make the program go better at home.

Last time during Grant's first eval, he mostly played with her radio. He was fascinated by it and kept going back to it. This will come as a shocker to those of you who know Grant well: This last time he could almost care less about it! That was one of the first things I said to Joel when we got in the car. Instead he played with his flashcards and interacted with the 3 of us.

Towards the end of his appointment Grant was sitting in Joel's lap and was talking to 'Miss Lyn'. Randomly Grant folded his hands and said seriously/quietly to Lyn, "Pay" and Joel said to Lyn, "Grant is going to pray." I'm not sure what prompted him to do so but his prayer went like this: "Dear Jesus, thank you for Mama....Tatie....Joel....Mammy and Ro er...." and then he pointed to Lyn all while his head was looking down with his eyes half closed and said "her." It was the sweetest thing. I had not ever heard him say the word "her" before and for him to think of Lyn and thank Jesus for her touched my heart! Parts of his prayer were not understandable but you could understand most of it. At home we pray before meals, snack, naptime, and bedtime. At first we started with before meals and before bed at night but then the kids carried it over to any time they go "night-night" or eat. We just go with it and tell them that they can talk to Jesus anytime throughout the day. So it was neat that Grant started talking to Jesus right there in Lyn's office, totally random and unexpected!

Trip to Costco

2009-03-19T08:11:00.001-07:00

After school on Friday, the kids and I went to Costco to eat lunch and then do grocery shopping. We've done this a few times now where we order pizza and get drinks, then eat, and then shop. Grant was being a really sweet boy that day and he was being sweet to Kate. At one point he held onto her arm like this:

It was so cute that I had to snap a picture. Later I tried to get another picture of them both smiling and looking at me but this is all I got:

Kate saying "Nooooo" and Grant saying "Cheeeeessseeeee". Usually it's the other way around with Grant being the stinker and Kate being the sweet one, but lately from Kate we hear a lot of "Noooooo." "No." "No-no." "no." - all with a smile on her face, thinking she is hot stuff. It's great when she tells me no to something she doesn't want as an option or to tell Grant to stop when he is doing something he shouldn't but when she tells me no to something I am telling her to do, that's a little different. I know this is a stage (and a stage Grant didn't go through at that age so in some ways it's a first for us even though she is our 2nd kid) but I desire for her to have an obedient heart and to foster that at a young age. I am finding that it is hard to get her to understand that she can say no to me (or Grant) sometimes and sometimes she is to say yes and obey. How do you get a cute 2 year old girl to understand this???

Cheap Family Fun!

2009-03-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last week when the weather was nice the four of us went on a walk after Joel came home from work. Joel and Grant rode their bikes and I pushed Kate in the jogger stroller. We've gone to the park many times but this was the first time we did it like that, with the boys on their bikes and me jogging with Kate. It worked out great! Grant is getting better at riding his bike and I'm getting better at keeping up with all of them!

Along the way to the park we stopped to feed the ducks. Feeding ducks is such a simple thing but we probably fed them for 15 minutes and the kids loved every minute of it. As you can see, both of them sat for awhile and threw bread pieces at the ducks. Every now and then Kate would eat the bread and I laughed. Last year she would only eat the bread but now it's like she has to stop and think about it because she is so into feeding the ducks. She's like, "Oh, ya, this bread looks yummy to eat." :-)

Grant Update

2009-03-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is our 2nd eval for Grant with NACD. As we were filling out the program review for tomorrow Joel and I realized all what he has done in the past several weeks:

1. He is saying a lot more word approximations and trying to talk more and more.
2. He is saying and using "No" appropriately.
3. He has mastered drinking from a straw - something we have been working on for 3+ years!!! He can drink for a juice box now - Praise the Lord! You can only imagine how nice this is now. :-)
4. It doesn't seem like he is falling/tripping as much. This is hard to tell as his parent since I'm around him all of the time but I will say that the past two weeks have probably been the longest stretch for Grant without having a bruise/bump/goose egg on his head somewhere. He did have a bad scratch on his nose but that, to me, was something different than from tripping over his own two feet: He walked into his room when it was pitch black (at night w/ out the light on) and tripped over his train tracks that were all over the floor and either landed on one of the tracks (I think) or hit his bed. I hope it wasn't his bed but I couldn't figure out that part from him other than knowing that he obviously tripped over the tracks from hearing him while in the living room.
5. He has mastered 3 of his goals at school during the past 6wks grading period: immitate/copy circle, immitate/copy cross, and unbutton large front buttons unassisted. The first two have been goals since day 1 of school so this is huge, too!!!
6. He is saying "Gra" with almost an /n/ at the end when you ask him what his name is. This is huge. Val has been working with him all last fall on saying his name and at school they have been working since the beginning of the school year on him saying his name and just in the past 2-3 weeks he has started actually saying his name, well, almost!

This really is a lot for Grant. It's possible this could all be coincidence since starting NACD.......or not. Time will tell, really. But none the less it is very encouraging to Joel and I, and I just wanted to share Grant's progress with you all!

What I've been tasting lately:

2009-02-23T11:25:00.001-08:00

Is my child saying "No" to almost everything. And let me just tell you that it tastes soooooo good! I'm eating it up. Yumm...

The past few weeks Grant is getting very good at saying the word 'no' and he is using it to exercise his free will whenever he chooses. I'm loving the fact that I am having the opportunity to guide his free will towards an obedient heart when he tells me "No-no" after telling him to do something. In our house, he can tell me no if it's for something that I'm happy with either choice. But if there is only one choice (ie, Grant, come to the table. It's time to eat.) and he tells me no then we proceed onto the obedient heart part.

I have to say, last Thursday evening before leaving for church he was telling me no to almost everything. And the thought came to my mind, "So this is what it is like to have a child say "no" to everything" and the second thought was, "Thank you, Lord."

It's the little things like this that really aren't so little. It's so great for Grant to tell me what he wants and that includes telling me what he doesn't want by saying 'no'.

Thank you, Lord, for my sweet boy Grant and for him being able to tell me "No." It really is a beautiful thing.

Conversations with Grant

2009-02-17T12:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had a sweet conversation with Grant when I went in his room after he woke up from his nap. I picked him up and gave him a big hug and said "Hi Grant!" He said "Hi" and then pointed to his dog, which I let him sleep with for his nap - a special treat, as the dog sleeps in the living room at night - and said "Dog!" He was still so excited that I let him sleep with his dog. So the rest of the conversation went like this:

Me: "Is your dog sleeping or awake?"
Grant, smiling: "Nigh-nigh" meaning he is still sleeping
Me: "He's sleeping?"
Grant, nods head
Me: "When is he going to wake up?"
Grant: "Mmm, mmm, umm, mia mi." meaning "in a few minutes"
Me: "In a few minutes?"
Grant, nods head
Me: "Oh, okay."
Grant, wants down and runs off to play.

This is a small glimpse at how most of our conversations go with Grant.

Lately Grant has been talking to us about "mia mi", minutes, like how many "mia mi" do I have to put my nose in the corner, or how many "mia mi" until snack time, or how many "mia mi" until Joel comes home. It's pretty cute for the most part except for every time when he askes as his nose is headed for the corner!

Valentine's Day Party!

2009-02-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Friday Grant had a party at his school for Valentine's Day. Kate LOVES going to Grant's class and always acts like she owns the place. Ms. Patsy is always so nice and made a plate of goodies for her just like the rest of the kids. I couldn't get a picture of them looking at me but instead Grant is munching away on his chips and cookies and Kate is trying to unwrap a chocolate kiss. That's the first thing she went for. A girl knows what they want, huh?

After the kids ate their yummy snacks, they each passed out Valentine cards and some candy, too. Kate somehow managed to come home with a huge heart sucker that was wrapped in a plastic wrapper. As soon as we got to the car she wanted to eat it but they already had so much candy that I told her no. I didn't take it away from her thinking that she would just hold onto it and thinking that there was no way she would be able to unwrap it. Well, about 7-8 minutes later I look back at her and she is munching away on it! How did she unwrap it?!? I just shook my head and told her to show me her sucker, goey mess and all. So in the picture that is what she is doing, showing me her yummy sucker. What would we do without wipees??

Play Group with Kate!

2009-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the school year, Kate was tested for speech delay. When she was around 18 months I began to suspect she was a little behind speech-wise but decided to wait until after she turned two to see if her speech would develop further. Her 2nd birthday came and went and still her speech was not coming along as I would have liked. So I made the call to Parents in Partnership, a program through Garland ISD that is for children 0-3 years old with developmental delays. Grant started with this program when he was 15 months old. If the child qualifies for the program, a therapist comes to your house 1x/week to work with your child.

She was tested the beginning of the school year and at the end of the evaluation, the team told me she barely qualifies and it was basically up to me whether or not we wanted her to qualify. She tested right on target in every area (there are 5: cognition, self-help, gross motor, fine motor, and receptive & expressive language) except expressive language (talking) she was 4 months behind. They have to be 4 months or greater to qualify for services. Well, it didn't take me long to decide for her to qualify. While we don't see her as delayed as Grant, she is behind speech-wise and if anything, this will be a positive time for her speech-wise. She picks up a lot of things from Grant, both good and bad. Anyway, this is just a little background for you on where we are at with Kate!

There is a play group that meets almost every Friday during the school year for kids in the program and Kate and I started going towards the end of last year. We never went with Grant because Grant was still taking a nap in the mornings. I have to admit, it's not my first choice of places to go with Kate but I have found it to be a great hour of me and Kate time and for that it is totally worth it. In a way it gets me out of my comfort zone. Most families that come are ESL families and for a lot of them this is the only time their kids get to be around other kids. That is really hard for me to imagine, as Kate is around kids all of the time. Every time I go, it really makes me realize how blessed I am to have so much support through my church friends, to have family close by, and to have things like a gym membership where Kate can be around other kids, too.

It is great for me to see how she interacts with other children and I have found her to be quite the social butterfly. She is somewhat shy but likes being with and around other children. We sing a couple songs, which she loves, and a story is always read from a really big book that everyone can see. In between a bunch of toys are dumped in a big pile and the kids just go for it. Each week there is usually a different theme like farm animals, food & cooking, and this last time it was cars. You can see from the pictures she was having fun playing with the cars. I know this is typical for her age but she was very possesive of "her" cars and if someone tried to take "hers" away she would quickly tell them "mine". At the end every kid gets a sticker and Kate makes sure that she gets one.

We are thankful for Beth, Kate's speech therapist, who comes each week to our home. Kate loves "Be" and always get silly when she comes at first. When you think of Kate, please pray with us for her speech to continue to develop as it should and for wisdom in which direction to take as she approaches her 3rd birthday in July. At that time she will age out of the program and will be tested for speech therapy through public school where she would go 1-2 times a week (or something like that). Other possibilities might include starting NACD with her, the program that we are doing with Grant. At this point I'm not sure if I could handle two kids on program but if it is what she needs, I will do what it takes. Thanks, friends, for reading this long post and for supporting us with your prayers!

Zoo Trip

2009-02-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago the weather was really nice and the kids and I met up with Joel after work at the Dallas Zoo. We had planned on being there right around 2/2:30 with Joel leaving a little early from work but unfortunately we didn't get there until after 3. The Zoo closes at 4pm during the winter months so we didn't have much time. But we still had a good time and enjoyed being outside not cooped up in the house. Afterwards we went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and then to church for Community Group. Even though we only went to the Zoo for 45 minutes or so the whole afternoon and early evening was filled with some much needed quality time with the four of us. Here's our one and only picture from the day so I thought I would share:

Meet our Dog

2009-02-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

Kate, our pink poodle! ...haha

My friend Sara let us borrow this dog costume last fall and Kate wanted to wear it for the first time the other day. I've asked her if she wanted to wear it before and she shook her head "no". Sometimes she is stubborn and has her mind made up about certain things and there is no budging. The dog costume was one of those things. I'm not sure what changed but when she saw it she insisted on putting it on. Once she realized that she looked like a dog, you know she was in 7th Heaven! She ran to the full length mirror in my bathroom to look at herself, laughing the whole time. She loves it and I have a feeling that we will have a little pink dog running around often. :-)

"Haha, I'm so smart!"

2009-02-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I walk into the kitchen and hear a CD playing in the under cabinet radio. I was a little surprised because this CD was in the car earlier, and it's one of Grant's favorites. It's from church and has two of his favorite songs on it: Every Move I Make and Open the Eyes of My Heart. So I looked at Joel and asked, "Did you put this in?" With a surprised look on his face he told me no. I didn't put it in either. So guess who?

Hmmm... It wasn't Joel, it wasn't me, and it certainly wasn't Kate, so it had to be Grant!

So...this is how it went in about 2 minutes, all while Joel and I were talking in our room (this was shortly after Joel got home from work and the kids were playing, or so we thought) Grant - on his own - got the CD from my car, brought it in the house, and put it in the CD player and turned it on. Now, the CD in the car was actually in the CD player so he new the right button to push to get it out. Once I figured out what was going on, I looked at Grant, who was smiling at me while clapping his hands to the music like "haha, I'm so smart, I got my own music". Joel and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.

So I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. It's good that he knows what he is doing, I guess. But not so good that he is getting in my car and playing with CD's!

The story finishes this morning when right before we left for school, Grant and I are in the kitchen drinking water and getting vitamins when he pointed to the radio and asked, "Na Na?" (That's how he asks for Every Move I Make. It starts with 'Na na na na na na, Na na na na na na na.') I just looked at him and said, "Ok." And got the CD out and brought it back to the car. He remembered exactly where the CD was. Of course, he asked for it again as I'm buckling him into his carseat. He is a toot!

As I'm writing this, I'm remembering several times Grant has asked to listen to that CD when we are at home and I have told him no because it's in the car. We listen to it so much already that sometimes I get tired of it. I know, it's hard to imagine, right? ;-) I figure we can just broaden our horizons and listen to something different, right? So now I'm wondering if all along he was thinking to himself, "Well, I can just go get it from the car" and yesterday without even asking to listen to the CD (maybe because he knew I would say 'no') just helped himself.

The part about this story that gets me rolling my eyes and saying "Oh brother" is when I looked at him as happy as could be, clappin' his hands, and laughing with that "haha, I'm so smart and cool to get my own music" kind of laugh. What a stinker!

Birthday Fun!

2009-02-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

For Grant's birthday Aunt Jenni and Uncle Shawn got him a cool Transformers pop up tent. We set it up after the Christmas stuff was put away and he thought it was the coolest thing. Kate thought it was fun, too.

Here's an 'inside' view. And in case you are wondering what that thing is next to Grant's face, it is the tail of his dog that he got from Nana for his birthday! When Grant got the idea in his head to bring his dog into the tent with him, he just laughed and you could tell he thought it was the best thing ever. He loves his dog.

Grant says: Thanks, Aunt Jenni and Uncle Shawn, for my cool tent! It's so much fun!
And Thanks, Nana, for my D-O-G! It's the best present ever!

Look Mama!

2009-01-24T07:40:00.001-08:00

This past couple of weeks Kate has been working very hard at trying to get her shoes on. She loves trying on mine and this past week she put Grant's on. She thinks it's so fun now to wear Grant's shoes! Yesterday, she was wearing them around the house for over an hour and then we went to Wal-Mart. She wore them the whole time to the store. I was too tired to deal with shoes...

Here she is showing me her new socks that she loves to wear, too.

Now this was totally unexpected to say the least. One day I found Grant wearing Kate's pants! They were laying around on the floor somewhere and I guess he got an idea in his head that it would be fun to try them on. The funny thing is that they were her hot pink pants of all things and it just cracked me up. Most of the time she wears blue jeans. While I'm not encouraging my son to cross-dress, I was very excited inside that he got both legs in the right hole and that he put them on the right way and he had them pulled up over his bottom. These things are such a struggle for him so to see him get it right warms my heart and in this case gave me a good laugh at the same time. :-)

Road Trip!

2009-01-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to take my brother David to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls. He is in the army reserves and is now active duty and going to school there to become a bio-med tech. It's for the next 10 months and will be very intense. Christina and Kate went with us and the four of us had a great time. I love short road trips like these. Wichita Falls is a little more than 2 hours northwest of Dallas. Afterward we headed south towards Aledo, about 20 west of Fort Worth to pick up wheat. I had been out for a month and was very excited to drive home with 300 pounds of wheat! That's only 6 50pound bags but 300pounds sounds like a lot, huh?

Kate, ready to go

Excited David

Kate slept almost the entire trip up to Wichita Falls just like this - so sweet!

When we got the base we had to wait awhile for David to get paperwork processed and to get his room. So Christina and I hung out in the car with Kate. She was such a good girl the whole trip and it was so great to just be able to love on her without Grant taking most of my attention. I'm so thankful we brought her with us!

David, hang in there! We are praying for you during this time and are excited with you for this opportunity you have before you! Love you!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

We totally had our own party goin' on!!!
( especially Joel ;-) )

Super Easy & Super Yummy Pasta Bake!

2009-01-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had a super yummy dinner and it was so easy that I have to share it with you! If you're like me, I'm always on the look out for recipes that are easy, yummy, little mess, little prep, you get the idea, and this one fits all of the above. I got it from my friend Tammy.

Pasta Bake

Throw some pasta in a 9x13 pan. (I used a large box of elbow macaroni.) Cover with a jar of spaghetti sauce. (I used some from the freezer which was about 3 cups worth.) Add some water. Cover and bake in preheated oven at 350. Top w/ 1 cup or so of mozzarella cheese and bake 10-15 minutes more uncovered. (I had to add more water after 30 minutes.)

OMG! So easy and fast and no mess and little clean-up, a definite winner in our house. Oh, and both kids gobbled it up. We had to tell Kate at some point "no more" because she had ate so much and I was seriously afraid she would get sick. She has done than before with pasta, tmi I know but it's true.

One more thing, I added some meatballs to it from the freezer and that added a little extra yumminess. You could do pepperoni, too. It made two meals worth so leftovers will be Sunday's lunch when we come home from church. Can't wait!

Kate's Kitchen!

2009-01-13T21:04:00.000-08:00

Kate says, "Thank you, Aunt Jenni & Uncle Shawn for my new kitchen! It fits perfect in my room after Mommy finally figured it out. (I think she moved my bed around 7 times. Whew...that was rough for me.) I love it and play with it everyday. Grant likes it, too, and helps me cook lots of yummy food. I'm trying to be a good girl and not climb on it like Grant does. He gets in big trouble when he does that but it sure looks fun. Sometimes I do, too, and then I get a spankin'. When you come over I'll make you something yummy to eat!"

Christmas Morning

2009-01-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

I know January is almost half over but here are some pics from Christmas morning. For the 2nd year now, we spent Christmas morning with just the four of us. It was very relaxing and rather slow. Both of the kids are at the age where they like to play with everything as they open it.
Kate got a cozy coupe car!

And Grant got a new bike!

Eating yummy Christmas breakfast made in the crockpot all night long, thanks to one of my fav. blogs here.

Grant, trying out his new bike and Kate enjoying the ride.

For some reason Christmas felt different this year. This is the 2nd year in a row that we have specifically done our own family thing and it feels good. Christmas was always a special time growing up and honestly, it hasn't been the same since being married. But I think this year was a year of closure and a year of new traditions. I guess you could say that I feel 'grown up'. You wouldn't think it would take this long but... :-) The kids really had fun with their presents and it was great being able to kick back and have fun with them. I think a lot of the reason for Christmas being different this year is that both kids were a lot more into Christmas. We talked a lot about baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. On Sundays driving home from church I would ask him what the story was about and he would say, "MaerMaer" and I said, "Mary?" and he would nod. He said something else which sounded like 'angel' and so I asked him if the story was about the angel who talked to Mary. He nodded. Sometimes I wonder what he understands and what he doesn't. At times like that he makes me think that he understands more than I give him credit for. Oh, for the day that words will flow out of his mouth...

Christmas Dinner

2009-01-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving Day AND Christmas Day with Joel's family! It just worked out that way this year and it was nice. We had crockpot lasagna - thank you Tammy! - and all the kids got to play outside since the weather was nice. We had 9 adults and 11 cousins over - and that isn't everyone. Sarah and Lance and Kerry and Lydia, we missed you guys! For dinner we brought in the kids picnic table from the backyard and it fit perfectly in front of our bedroom door, which is off of the dining room and kitchen. They had their own dinner booth. :-)

Cousins from left to right:Michell, Timothy, Asher, Grant, Kate (hiding behind Noel), and Noel

I'm not sure how it happened but this is the only picture I have from dinner. Probably because I was just enjoying time with my sister-n-laws and making sure Grant wasn't getting into trouble!

MRI results and Scottish Rite Follow-up!

2009-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Grant's follow up appointment at Scottish Rite hospital. We found out the results of the MRI - everything looks as normal as it should! Yeah and Praise the Lord!

For some reason I thought it was going to be a short appointment but it was about 2 hours long and we saw 4 different people. Dr. Adams was the last person we saw and he didn't say too much except that he wants to do genetic testing to see what we find in that direction since we didn't find anything in the MRI. According to him the testing is less invasive than an MRI and only requires blood to be drawn. I did briefly tell him what happened the first time we went to get an MRI and he said that it shouldn't be anything like that. I am trusting he is right on this!

So...we should hear from the hospital in a couple weeks about the genetic testing and then go from there. At this point, we are just happy to have peace of mind that his brain is "normal" and that we don't have any worry or concern there. This is huge!

These pictures were taken the day of Grant's MRI. Joel and I had just switched cell phone providers and I was trying out the camera on my new phone while we were waiting and waiting and waiting....

We had been waiting over an hour and a half from the time they got him all ready to the time they took him back. He fell asleep for about 30 minutes towards the end in Joel's arms. He really is my sweet boy and I need to look at this picture more often to remind myself of that! 8-)

Christmas Eve!

2009-01-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve with my family at my sister and brother-n-law's home in Allen. It's nice that both of our families live close and we can see most of them around the holidays.

We were comfy cozy in our pj's and so the kids wore their matching snowman pajamas. They looked so cute! It's not too often that they get to match!

These shoes came from Aunt Jenni and Kate wanted to put them on right away. Somehow Joel managed to get both on over her footy pajamas. She was so excited and starting running around.

Showing Mommy her new shoes!

Grant and Kate playing with Kate's new kitchen she got from Aunt Jenni and Uncle Shawn. They are wearing their cute aprons from Daniel and Christina.

Shawn, Dad, Daniel, and little Kate, being such a big girl at the big table

Joel being a punk, Grant, Nana, Christina, and Shawn again. Jen and I didn't get in the picture.

After dinner the kids went to bed and the rest of us played games. It was a lot of fun and I don't think we left until after 11pm. Some of my best memories from growing up are from Christmastime, and Christmas with my family is always special. It was a great day and I'm so thankful for them and for the love they show to us and the kids.

More Birthday Pics

2009-01-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

After we went to Chuckecheese we came home and ate cupcakes and Grant opened a few presents. Here's our lovely attempt at a family self shoot:

It look like only 3 candles but there really were 5!

Kate, about to eat her cupcake.

Kate, after eating her cupcake and Grant trying to wipe her face. She had an icing goatee and Grant thought it was so funny to try to clean her up. It was cute!

Bread and Bows

2009-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Sara started a blog a few months ago to feature her growing side business. She inspired me to start one myself.

So...I am happy to introduce to you Bread and Bows!

Check it out if you have a chance!

Grant's Birthday!

2008-12-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Dec. 22 Grant turned 5 years old! At times I can't believe he is already 5. Other times I think of how these past few years have been so hard. I love Grant to pieces and pray for God to continue to give me love for him and wisdom to Joel and I as we try to figure the right way to go with him.

Here are a couple pics of Grant and his dog from Nana that she got him when we went to see her for lunch at the hospital. He loves his dog so much!

This is pretty much how he was all the way home, holding it very closely and not letting go! You can tell how happy he is.

Tutu Cute

2008-12-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

I made these tutu's for a friend of mine's daughters. I made them a little different than I normally do. At a craft show I went several weeks ago, I saw ones that were made on a satin ribbon instead of an elastic waist band. So I tried it and it turned out super cute. This way you can put it on and take it off much easier and you have a beautiful bow! I made them short since they will be for play. Also, they will look super cute over jeans or black leggings since they are shorter. I can't wait to make one for Kate!

More Fun with Beth

2008-12-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

The last speech day in December we made gingerbread houses. Beth came in the afternoon that week and so Grant and Joel were both home. Kate, of course, had a lot of fun with hers. Grant actually got into it a little bit but thought it was so funny when his collapsed. At first he was concerned and I put it back. Then he knocked it over on purpose all the while laughing and eating candy. He is a stinker!

In case you were wondering...

2008-12-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

...this is what my house has looked like every day except Tuesdays and Wednesday (when I teach lessons) for the month of December, I think, maybe longer. In fact, it looked like this 1 day before we had a Christmas party at our house. :-) Thankfully I have 2 things to be grateful for: 1. a small house and 2. a helping husband. Thank you, Joel!!!

At least it's clean laundry you're looking at.

You know it's bad when your mother says, "I've never seen it this bad before!" The last couple weeks have been better and it has helped that Joel has been home a lot. But there are days...and with NACD in full swing it's only going to get harder, I know!

Feeling Crafty

2008-12-30T18:05:00.000-08:00

I read or saw this idea somewhere, I think on the internet, for a fun Christmas craft. I thought it would be fun for the kids to do and would be full of good language, speech-wise. This one is edible and made out of ice cream cones with frosting all over for snow. We "glued" candy pieces for the ornaments and put a sucker through a hole at the top for a star. Doesn't this sound like fun? Too bad it didn't last more than 3 minutes, hence the reason I don't do things like this ever unless Beth is around. :-)

Kate, totally into it and making sure her "ornaments" are in the right place

Grant really could care less and just wanted to eat candy. Surprise, surprise.

Lil' Helper

2008-12-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

Kate was trying to "help" me clean up after Thanksgiving dinner. I asked her, "Are you helping Mommy?" and she nodded her head "yes". Then she said "more" after she put the silverware that she had found into the tray. Yeah! I could get used to this!

I love my crockpot(s)!

2008-12-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is what happens when you don't blog until 5 weeks after the fact: you forget stuff! Or I'm just really tired. :-)

Thanks to my friend, Stephanie, we had a crockpot Thanksgiving when my family had dinner with us. We did one turkey in the oven and one on the grill that Joel did. His turned out way better than mine, although mine tasted pretty good. We're definitely going to do two again next time, one on the grill and one in the oven.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture of everything until we started to clean up but this picture turned out fine enough:

left to right: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and in the back pumpkin spiced lattes. Not pictured: cranberry sauce and pumpkin spice dip.

Everything turned out great! The awesomeness of it all is when my family came over we didn't have to be in the kitchen for 2-3 hours before eating because it was already cooking in the crocks. And clean-up was a breeze since I used crockpot liners so all the mess went in the trash. Everyone was impressed, to say the least, and I have a feeling that this won't be the only crockpot Thanksgiving! :-)

Thanksgiving Dinner #2

2008-12-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Friday after Thanksgiving we had my family over for dinner. My dad was in town so that was nice and everyone made it that could. Jonathan is still in Iraq so we all missed him.

From left to right: Shawn, Jen, David (on the sofa), Daniel, Papa Mark, Christina, and Blair. Nana and Joel were there but not in the picture.
It's been awhile since we have had either one of our families over for Thanksgiving or Christmas but this year we did both in having my family over during Thanksgiving and Joel's family over on Christmas Day. Our house is small and both of us have big families but both times it worked out alright. I'm thankful for all of my family - all 35 of them...and that's just parents, sibblings, spouses, and children (cousins)...35 between Joel's and my family. We are blessed, huh? :-)

Lifesavers!

2008-12-30T11:13:00.000-08:00

Actually, teethsavers I should say. Grant and Kate don't like having their teeth brushed. They really don't like it. They hate it. And because they hate it so much it makes it hard for one to be consistent in getting the job done. So a few weeks ago I had coupons for battery operated spin toothbrushes and bought one for each. Look! They are doing it themselves! Even Daddy was impressed and commented, "Those things are worth every penny!" wow.

Now they love having their teeth brushed and everybody is happy again. :-)

Catching Up!

2008-12-29T06:18:00.000-08:00

If you are just tuning in, you are probably thinking, "Whoa!" I'm back to blogging and loving it. I'm finally catching up with pictures and posts from Oct. and Nov. They aren't in exact order, but at least I am getting them posted, right? December posts coming soon! :-)
Enjoy!

Spider Cookies!

2008-12-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

I saw a recipe for these cookies in an October magazine. We didn't end up making them until November sometime but that was okay because we love to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the kids loved helping me make them. They loved eating them, too, as you can tell by the pictures:

"Is this really a cookie?"

eating one "leg" at a time
:-)

Fall is Here...

2008-12-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

...although if it weren't for the fallen leaves you might think it was summer at times!

I know it might look like a pathetic pile of leaves but the kids had fun with what leaves we had from our neighbor's tree. I raked them up into a pile at the bottom of the slide and they thought it was so fun so "land" in the pile. Now this is what I call cheap entertainment! :-)

Trick or Treat!

2008-12-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

Grant in his Sully costume from Monster's Inc.

Showing off his tail

Kate, a flower fairy.

I saw a picture of a similar tutu online for about $70 and it gave me an idea for Kate's costume. I had a lot of fun making this one and she looked so cute in it. And it actually survived two nights of wear, one night at our church's carnival and the other night trick or treating!

Pumpkin Patch with Aunt Jenni!

2008-12-28T16:04:00.000-08:00

One Saturday in October Aunt Jenni took us to a pumpkin patch in Plano. Joel was working on my brakes that day and she was so nice to come and pick us up. The kids loved riding in her car. I'm not sure why but they think it is so fun to ride in someone else's car!

Grant was such a big boy and sat through getting a spider painted on his hand. He thought that was pretty neat.

Both kids got to decorate a bird feeder. I'm not sure if it actually fed any birds but we hung them from our tree when we got home.

And both decorated pumpkins, real and paper. All in all, we had fun! Thank you, Aunt Jenni, for a fun afternoon! We love you!

Lunch Date with Nana!

2008-12-28T15:59:00.001-08:00

The kids and I met up with Nana for lunch one day, something we haven't done in a long, long time. Christina and Daniel were out of school that day and so they got to come, too! Yeah!

Big Hug!

Grant loves his Nana!

It must have been Friday since Grant and I were wearing our school spirit wear! Liberty Grove Rocks. :-)

Granbury, Texas!

2008-12-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

Joel and I went away for a few days back in October. Our dear friends, Roger and Tammy, or should I say "Ro er and Mammy", watched Grant for us, and our other dear friends, Jason and Sara, watched Kate. We are so grateful to them for giving Joel and I the opportunity to get away for some much needed "us" time. To Roger and Tammy and Sara and Jason: We can't thank you guys enough! You gave us a gift that we will never forget! You guys have blessed us so much and we are forever grateful!!!

We went to a cozy little cottage in the country on private owned property. We had our own hot tub and private porch. The view was beautiful and the house was a perfect escape. We brought food and enjoyed cooking without any interruptions or time constraints. You would think I would want to eat out the whole time but it was so nice not having anyone begging to be held or fussing because they are "starving". We slept in, watched movies, biked, shopped, and truly enjoyed being together. I can't wait to go back!!!

The Neri Place

Biking at Slovaca Ranch

Biking in downtown Granbury where we ate a picnic lunch

Headed home back to Dallas!

Speech Time with Beth

2008-12-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

Beth is Kate's speech therapist who comes to our house on Wednesday mornings while Grant is at school. Her speech therapy is through Garland ISD's program for children 0-3years. We are thankful for this opportunity for Kate and she responds really well to Beth, who she calls "Be". Kate had a lot of fun decorating her pumpkin. I am always amazed at how much she likes doing these kinds of things. Grant could totally care less and doesn't have the patience. Kate is the total opposite!

Ta-Da! It has curly hair just like Kate!

Breathing Time

2008-12-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

When Kate gets sick it usually goes straight to her chest and so we get out the breathing machine and she does her treatments. She usually hates it until we thought of the great idea to let her ride her horse. Now she loves doing her treatments and doesn't fuss through them. Yeah!

Kate & Lulu

2008-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

Kate says, "Thank you, Aunt Jenni, for Lulu and my purple purse!"

Cute!

2008-12-28T14:33:00.000-08:00