Ryan- Part 2

Ok - the at home evaluation is done and I did learn some things so I thought I would share with all of you. We will not get a definite diagnosis on Ryan until after he turns 30 months. The particular test that they would need to administer to him will be too advanced for him before that time. The most we can hope (or dread depending on how you look at it) is to hear that "he has autistic tendencies" or something to that effect. She mentioned Katie's articulation but said that when Ryan gets his speech therapist to visit she will have her check Katie out as well.

Ryan was so tired out after the evaluation (and it helpted that it was nap time) that he lay down on the playroom floor and fell asleep with Logan's blanket. He's getting so much better dealing with new people. He was a little shy with Robin but didn't cry and didn't crawl away from her. He kept peeking at her, chewing on the blanket then he'd stop and look up at her. Too cute!

Robin is really great - she answered all my questions and said that there are different areas of diagnosis on the autism spectrum (which, we already knew but it was nice to be reminded). Ryan isn't like Logan in certain areas but some areas he is very similar. There are some instances where they children are "caught" at a young enough age where the therapy helps them enough where they don't have to have that 30 month evaluation. The original concerns have been almost completely wiped out by the therapy received. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Early Intervention is currently having their therapists work at home with the young children. They believe that it is better for the children and the parents. The therapists can use any toys that the children play with and the parents can observe and even work with the children themselves in addition to the therapy. We will have to have Ryan stop seeing the therapists at the hospital but that gives us the extra money to have Logan get more speech and occupational therapy. It's going to be a good move for everyone.

Ryan

Today is the day for Ryan's at home evaluation. The case worker is so nice - she called the other night to get ready for next Friday's evaluation. She's a dedicated woman- she called after 8:00 p.m. It looks like they want to keep the group evaluation for next week so not sure that today will give us many answers if any. I will get back on here after she leaves and give you any news if there is any to be had.

Logan had a great morning - no screaming or smacking. He even put his backpack on and held his juice cup. The best part, he didn't want Mommy to pick him up while waiting for the bus. He's still a little skittish when it's time to get on the bus but that's because of the noise it makes. Marie was in rare form - non-stop movement and talking. Oh to have 1/100th of her energy; what I wouldn't give for just that!

Right now, they (Katie and Ryan) are watching the Baby Bumblebee first DVD. We've had these DVD's for a couple of years for Logan. I had forgotten about them until this morning so I thought I'd give them a try. Katie is playing with Logan's learn through music and Ryan is watching the DVD and trying to say everything they are. One out of two isn't bad!!

Toes

I had to tell you this story. For those of you who have known me since I was a young girl, you can sit back and laugh and laugh and laugh. A long time ago, (once upon a time a very long time ago...) my dad had brought the chain saw into the house. No, I don't remember why but I know it was in the colder months so maybe it had something to do with our wood for the fireplace. Anyhow, it sat under a chair in our dining room for a long time. I must have walked by that stupid thing a thousand times without incident until one early Sunday morning.

I stubbed my toe on it and man did that hurt! I, of course, woke up my dad to tell him what happened. My dad worked 6 days a week and Sunday was his only day to sleep late. He wasn't too thrilled to be woken up and told this tale but he was somewhat sympathetic and said to be more careful and to move the stupid thing so I wouldn't do it again. Of course, I was a smarty pants teenager and thought, why would I need to move it?? I hadn't tripped over it until today and there was no way I would be so stupid as to do it again. (Oh yeah? wanna bet?!)

Thirty minutes later, I stubbed it again but this time I did so much damage I ripped most of my toe nail off. Thinking I would get lots of sympathy this time, I went to wake up my dad again to relate the newest incident. Not only did I not get any sympathy, I got yelled at for not moving the stupid saw when I tripped over it the first time. I told mom when she got home from work at the hospital and she said the same thing "why didn't you move the stupid thing the first time you tripped over it?! I got teased about this stupid toe incident for years.

Today, all the kids were home from school so it has been a loud day at the house. Ryan had been sleeping but the noise level was too much for him so I went to rescue him and was trying to calm him down by singing to him. At the same time I was trying to keep Logan from turning off the computer I kicked the chair that he was standing on.

Marie knew something was wrong right away but Katie thought mommy was doing a dance and proceeded to jump around giggling and "dancin with mommy". I have walked by that chair so many times that you would think by now my feet would just know where not to kick. I'd just like to know why we can walk by something thousands of times with no problems and one day out of the blue BAM! How is that possible?!?!?!? I believe that I have broken a toe - no it's not the first and probably won't be the last either. (Yes, mom it's the same stupid toe!!)

Barney's I Love You Song

I just had to write this so the grandparents can know that Logan is making progress with speaking. Logan has this toy called Learn Through Music and up until now has been one of those annoying toys that you ask yourself "Why in the world did I buy this stupid thing?!?!!!"

Yesterday we got reminded just why it was purchased. He likes to push the same sound over and over and over and over.... well you get the drift. He's been doing that lately with the Barney I Love You song. Later in the day I put a Barney video on for Ryan as he absolutely adores "Barby" as he calls him. Logan, doing his typical thing, climbed up on the entertainment center and fast forwarded through the entire DVD. As I was about to go back in and discuss this with him the I love you song came on and this is what I heard from Logan. "I la oo, oo la ME, ww a py le" (I love you, you love me, we're a happy family) He was able to get some more sounds out but the Oo and the me were very pronounced. To most people that may not be much, but for us it was the most beautiful song we had ever heard!

Keep up the GREAT work; Ms. Wilcox, Ms. Ann, Ms. Kim and Ms. Cheryl! We thank GOD for all of you daily. Logan has progressed so much due to all of your hard work. He loves you all as much as we do! We can't thank you enough for all that you do for him. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Marie and the house alarm!

Due to the recent rash of car break-ins and the fact that Logan knows how to unlock our sliding glass doors, we have installed a house alarm. We had it done about 10 days ago and everything has been great until this morning. When I wake up each morning, I start my coffee and if it's a school day I start making lunch. After placing a lunch box into a back pack which sits in the entryway, I will turn off the alarm and remove the bat we have sitting against the front door. Today is Saturday so that routine didn't happen.

Curtis was the first one up this morning and had even changed a diaper by the time I got up. Katie, said "Did you poop, Mommy?" which means that she has filled her diaper with the nasty stuff. I didn't even have a chance to get the coffee going before changing her diaper so my brain wasn't working at full speed. Marie was kind enough to grab the nasty diaper and head toward the door. As soon as she opened the door I realized that neither adult had turned off the alarm. At 8:00 this morning our neighbors were treated to a very loud wake up alarm! (I think the only person who appreciated that was our next door neighbor as he works on Saturdays but as for the rest of them......) Thankfully I was able to jump up and run to turn it off as it scared the you-know-what out of me. Poor Marie, she just stood in the doorway looking like she was about to mess her pants!

I then sat Marie down and told her what to look for just in case Mommy or Daddy hadn't turned off the alarm. For the past three days Marie has been disappointed because the "tooth fairy" hasn't made it to our house. Daddy was very quick and said it must have been because we forgot and set the alarm each night. Once Marie's heartbeat was back to normal and after I discussed what she needed to do if it happened again, she gave me a look which let me know exactly how she felt about this new "stupid" home improvement. Not only did it scare the heck out of her but it also caused the poor tooth fairy to miss out on her for several days. Yes - Mommy feels terrible but is very thankful for a fast thinking Daddy!

Saturday

My day started quite nicely with a visit from my little man Logan. He decided to come in to check on me and climbed up in the bed to let me know he was there. Since Ryan is still in our room, he jumped up in his crib and started talking to his big brother. Today was the day to sleep in but I have to tell you, I rather enjoyed waking up to my two little men jibber jabbering to each other and the one snuggling up to me. Katie was kind enough to wait outside the door (as Logan had shut it in her face and the child proof knob makes it impossible for her to open) while Marie was out in the playroom watching cartoons.

Poor Marie doesn't have a snowball's chance in you-know-where to watch what she wants anymore. This morning she gave up trying to get them to watch her show and turned off the tv and started to dance around the room. As you can see, Katie loves to dance with her. Too many smaller children will fight over what is on. Logan decides for all if there is a movie on and will monkey climb to fast forward whatever is on to his favorite spot. (or he'll just fast forward until it's over and not irritating him anymore) I allow them to watch Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids only. We have several DVD's for some of the shows and every once in a while Logan decides he doesn't want to watch that. He gets really irritated when he realizes that I don't have the DVD in it's the actual television program.

Ryan has been getting a little better at walking. He has been getting three or four steps before falling. He has, for some reason, decided that walking on his knees is sometimes more fun and quicker. I don't remember the others walking on their knees but..... He also has had some more talking. He had his speech therapy on Tuesday, and when Ms. Cheryl took him he turned, looked at me and said, "Bye!" Shocked us all - but he went even further; when his therapy was all done, he said (from her arms) "Hi" like it's nothing for him to be with someone other than Mommy. I hope and pray that he continues like this for Ms. Corey and Ms. Christine. He hasn't seen them in a week so it may be a little sticky next week.

We have Ryan's home evaluation scheduled for this Friday morning. If that evaluation warrants more we still have his eval with the whole group scheduled for the 6th at 2:00. I will keep you posted on how the home visit goes and if we are still set for the group eval. I'm hoping that the home visit will be all as that would mean they don't think he has anything other than a small delay. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for us!

It's been a fun first week of school; getting used to the bus schedule and getting the kids to go to bed at a decent time. Daddy had planned on taking most of the week for vacation but ended up being sick all week. He almost never gets sick so of course, when it does happen it's pretty bad. He's been so into exercising and getting into shape lately so I can imagine how bad it would have been if he wasn't in such good shape. He said he wanted to lose some weight just not this way. I've had fun keeping the kids away from him so that no one else gets it but I think Katie shared her cough and cold with him on top of what he was already feeling. In our house, everything is shared especially when one of us gets sick. It seems no matter how much I try to keep everyone separate or clean everything to prevent it........

Spa Day

I just had the most incredibly relaxing day! Curtis had purchased a spa day for me a couple of years ago for my birthday. (back when I still celebrated them) He's tried several times to get me to go relax and enjoy myself but always I'd find some reason to not call and make my appointment. After spending the last 12 weeks with all four children I decided to take him up on his offer of watching the little ones so that I could enjoy.

My day (after getting the bigger kids off to school) started with a lovely manicure with parafin wax. WOW! My hands haven't been this soft in I don't know how long. Lately they look like nasty prunes from all the hand washing thanks to three children in diapers. I was then given a pedicure - delightful. (I felt sorry for the poor girl working on my nasty feet. Since it was still morning they hadn't had a chance to sweat all that much so at least she didn't have to deal with stinky feet but these bad boys were NOT pretty!!) I now have feet that I wouldn't be embarrassed to show off in open toe shoes.

I ate a lovely relaxing lunch and then on to my facial. I enjoyed chatting with the lady giving the facial so much that I forgot to relax and fall asleep but hey, I had adult conversation!! Next I went on to my one hour massage and oh what bliss that was!! This wonder woman is going to school for Hawaiin massage therapy/Doula. Since I am all done having babies I'm not too happy about that but for those lucky ladies out there that will benefit - it will be wonderful. I wish I had her around for my four babies! My last stop was to have my hair washed and styled - after the facial and massage you can imagine how I looked.

I had the most amazing day - I haven't felt this relaxed in so long. I recommend a day at the spa to every woman who has small children at home. Actually, I recommend this day spa treatment for any woman who just needs a little pampering. I can't wait to go again - maybe in another 5 or 6 years.

Katie et.al.

Katie - "Mommy, Katie poopied!" this was after I checked her diaper and everything was fine. Five minutes later.... Not sure why she is referring to herself in the third person but...

Ryan - "Hi Boogie!" his way of saying "Hi Mickey Mouse" He also loves the Aflac duck and will say his version of Aflac - "AAWAA" and laughs a great big belly laugh.

Logan - "GIRAAAAFFFE!" - this was after he insisted the giraffe was really Simba the baby lion from Lion King. After about the 100th time of correcting him, he got mad and screamed giraffe at me. I can't get him to say it again but at least he did it that one time.

Marie - "Mommy, my tooth just fell out! Can I take it to school to show my friends?" Sure you can, they've never seen a tooth before. No I didn't say all of that to her - just told her she could take it and yes they would be happy for her that she lost her 7th tooth.

Day Two

Well, the pick up went perfect this morning with the school bus. Logan even played outside for a few minutes and did his little pigeon dance (from Sesame Street) He was VERY excited about riding the school bus again. During summer school he wouldn't allow me to put him down at all so it's nice to see him play. It could be because Marie is with him; they have her sit next to him on the bus and they both wave out the window to us as they leave.

It's so quiet!! Katie eating her cereal and Ryan drinking his bottle; I have to keep jumping up and go looking for Logan and Marie. I think I will get over that in a couple of days, at least I hope so! I have to get the kitchen clean, the playroom clean (it will stay clean for a couple of hours - yeah!) and put away all the clothes then it will be time to play with Ryan and Katie. Actually by that time, Ryan will be tired and ready for a nap and Katie will want to watch a movie. I might be able to coax them into playing with me for a little while - perhaps bribing them with food will help. ;)

First Day of School

We survivied the first day of school somehow. Thankfully, I had the children ready about an hour before the bus was scheduled to pick up because it showed up early. Marie (the bus driver) apologized but said that they had messed her route up so she had to go back through and reroute it herself. She wants to pick ours up at 8:10 every morning so she can make the route easier which I have no problem with. Poor guys didn't get home until after 4:30 but thankfully the bus has a/c as they get out of school around 3:00 or 3:15.

Logan was so happy to see us all. He did a little dance when he got into the house and gave me big hugs and kisses and even said Mama when I grabbed him off the bus. Marie (our big girl) wouldn't stop talking at all. I think she likes her new class and all her new friends. Poor little Katie had a rough day. She missed them both and was very whiney all day. She would come up to me and say "Mommy, Logie and Ree Ree ride the school bus?" We had some distraction from all of that because Ryan had his therapy yesterday morning then we had to run Logan's supplies out to the school. I'm not sure how Tuesday will go without that little distraction for Katie Boo.

Summer Vacation is at an end

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the 2007-2008 school year. I'm washing all the new school clothes and getting them in the dressers. Before I can do that I must go through all the old clothes to see what still fits and what needs to be "moved on". I think I have one more load of laundry before I'm offically done washing them. I'd better get to the dressers soon so I have room for these. I don't remember my Mom doing all of this but I know she did and she worked full time as a nurse at the local hospital. Thank you Mom for all that you did for us. You worked hard and still took great care of your three brats, I mean children.

Marie went to get her hair cut for school last night and wasn't happy with Mommy when she got back home. She wanted her hair cut before the summer was over but I didn't want to have to take her twice so she talked me into attempting to cut her hair. Please notice that I said attempt. Daddy had a good chuckle when the hair stylist asked with horror "Who cut this child's hair last??!!" Marie had been very happy these past couple of days because her length in back was just long enough that she could pull it back in a pony tail or in her hat. Due to the "great" hair cut that I gave her she now has a hair cut as short as mine. (actually it's a little shorter than mine because I'm in need of a cut)

I think the cut is beautiful on her and told her so and of course said how sorry I was that they had to cut it that short in back in order to get it uniform. She was very gracious about it and said it was just as much her fault as mine since she did move when I was cutting but still..... Needless to say, I will not be cutting her hair ever again. Perhaps it's time Mommy sign up for some classes.

Their backpacks are packed except for one item that Daddy is driving all over creation to find. It always ends up that there is one item on the teachers supply list that no one has in stock. He's been to three Wal-Marts, a Target and is hitting Sam's Club next for two packs of loose leaf binder paper. Who would have thought that no one would have that in stock?! One store employee told him that they had ordered less this year because they got stuck with so much last year. Hmmmm - I don't think paper goes bad so what is so hard about keeping it and selling it through out the year at a slight discount?!

Grandpa came for a visit and birthday wishes

Grandpa came for a short visit this week. Marie was so excited she asked the same questions at least a thousand times. "When is he flying in Mommy?, Did he leave yesterday?" Every time the front door opened Katie would say, "There's Gampa, Mommy!"

Ryan gave us all a nice gift by taking some steps all by himself. He would realize that he was walking and then say, "Yeah!" and clap his hands. I'm glad Grandpa was here to see that. We were able to get some pictures last night of them with him but of course not all together at the same time. Grandpa volunteers at the school where Grandma Virgina teaches. He helps the first graders learn how to read. You can tell he really likes to help the children and he's a good listener. We were talking about his work and discussing Marie and her reading habits. He had her grab one of her books and start reading to him. They both enjoyed their reading time together and he was able to give Marie some pointers on how to improve her reading. Grandpa also had some good advise for Mommy too. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of observation to see how to improve things. Thank you, Grandpa. Daddy was able to spend the day visiting and doing errands. I think they both enjoyed their time together but were just as happy to hang out with the kids too.

I couldn't get Logan to sit still for a picture with Grandpa but I was able to get a shot of him when he stopped to take a breath at one point. I know that he enjoyed the visit because this morning when it was time to say goodbye, he made Grandpa pick him up and then wouldn't let him go.

Grandpa said that he and Grandma would be back to visit sometime soon. We can't wait to see them both. Today is a special day; Happy Birthday, Grandma Virginia. I always have such a hard time remembering birthdays. If I don't mark them down in my planner I will forget them but every once in a while something happens to make it a snap to remember. Grandma Virginia and "Aunt" Robin share a birthday. This makes it easier for me to remember both of them so I can send out birthday wishes to both.

Happy Birthday Robin! I've known Robin for about 15 years now (give or take a few) and I used to come over to her house to borrow her children. We would go to the beach or come hang out at my house so I could make them my speciality. Hamburgers and french fries - what a specialty right?! The girls showed me how to make a few things and I got them to try some pierrogies. Melissa, whom will always be Missy to me, would clean up my house and do my dishes. Matthew (Bubby) wouldn't speak to me when we first met so I tried my darndest to get him to say at least hi. He told his mother I tried too hard; four year olds are smart aren't they? Josh would always give me smile and then roll his eyes at something stupid I had to say. Michelle (Shell-Bell) was my little cutie pie and my daughter's favorite babysitter. Jennifer was just the sweetest girl that would always have me rolling on the floor with laughter. It's hard to believe that they are all grown up now and Jennifer has a baby of her own. Where has the time gone?

Clean

Here - so I can see that the room was clean for at least 5 minutes. (Not much more than that though as the kids delight in pulling all the toys out of the toy boxes - see picture of Katie in a toy box in the previous post)

Note the couch with all the pillows and blankets in the middle. That is Logan's wall - no one dares to touch it or they will feel his wrath. (and that is not pretty!)

Ryan is getting used to the vacuum now so he doesn't cry when I clean - good thing as I have to vacuum several times a day if I don't want spiders or other nasty creatures!

Cleaning - oh what fun it is!

I started off my day trying to find a box so that Curtis could ship something to a family member. Of course, I couldnt' find the size I was looking for so I ended up cleaning where we keep our shipping supplies. With four small children, we have to gate off anything we don't want destroyed by curious little fingers.

If you could only see this place! My desk, where I used to work from home and the bookshelves are all blocked with one of those big supergates you get at Toys R Us. Katie decided a long time ago, before she could walk, that she loved Mommy and Daddy's books. She would pull the paperbacks down from the shelf and tear out the pages. We will have to replace our Travis McGee collection someday because only four or so survived the "tornado" a.k.a. Katie. Anyways, my shipping supplies started out behind that gate nice and neat but as the days passed things got thrown behind the gate by all of us. Mostly by Logan - one of his favorite games is to throw anything and everything on the other side of the gate and then come get Mommy and Daddy to go over and get it for him.
This morning I was able to find the puzzle pieces that had been M.I.A. for several weeks, all of Logan's favorite dinosaur toys, socks, a shoe, some cards and some of balls that belong in this Snake toy. They are hard plastic with beans or something that makes an irritating noise when ever they bounce. I'm not too sure if the balls were there due to Logan. By the end of the day, the sound of those stupid things bouncing on the tiles in the entry way are enough to make me go screaming "Calgon, take me away!" I'm sure those were my fault; I try to hide them as much as possible. I know, I'm a mean Mommy!

Since I started cleaning in order to find this box and we have some company coming this evening; I decided to keep going. We also have a supergate blocking off our television so that Logan or any other child can't climb it or touch it or throw things at it. I found even more stuff over there and finally found the box I had been looking for all along. I have now packed that box and the other two boxes that I needed to mail. Baby stuff for Jen's adorable little guy and baby girl stuff for Logan's previous teacher Ms. Kelly. Jennifer had her little guy over two months ago and I have had this stuff sitting here to mail to her since then. Rather than do my normal routine where the babys get their gifts when they turn 21, I decided to go ahead and pack up their stuff to be mailed. I found all my shipping supplies so why not take advantage of that fact, especially since I may not be able to find everything again for another 6 months or longer!

I am now going to get into the playroom (Calgon just drown me already!!) and attempt to get it clean not that it will stay that way for more than 10 minutes but I can at least say I did it. How is it that the playroom and Marie's room is disgusting 20 minutes after I'm done picking up and vacuuming?! Never mind; I don't want to hear the answer to that question.

Sea World

Well, we didn't get out as soon as I had planned Sunday morning. Ryan had a rough night - poor little guy was teething and woke up around the time Mommy and Daddy were ready to go to bed. It took us a couple of hours to get him settled and before we knew it the alarm was going off. (Love those snooze buttons!) We got on the road 40 minutes later than anticipated but once we were on the road, Katie started with the "going to see shamu and the doltins, Mommy?" Logan went with Daddy for his 5th birthday so Katie felt it was high time the rest of us were able to go too.

Logan will stand watching the dolphins for hours if you let him. Next year our aim is to get Daddy and him into Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins. He can't go until he's 6 years old so we are saving our pennies for next year. It was so hot and so crowded by the time we made it over to the dolphins that we just went underground to the air conditioned viewing area. We weren't the only people who had that idea. Logan was lucky to get near the window but they were able to squeeze in there for a few minutes.When we first arrived we headed to Shamu's Stadium area where the kiddie section is located. There is a section where the kids can play in a bunch of water jets so we thought we'd start by cooling off there and then heading to see shamu. Needless to say, the kids were having so much fun in the water that they refused to leave for quite some time.Ryan surprised me completely by deciding he liked the water after all and crawling around all over the place. At one point I was trying to watch Katie and Logan and glanced back down at Ryan and the little stinker was half way across the water area. Once we got him in there, he wasn't taking any of us trying to remove him.
Marie made some friends while running around spraying everyone she could. She was so sweet and protective of Ryan and Katie. Anyone trying to spray them she yelled at and then blocked them with her body so the water wouldn't get in their faces.I tried to get some pictures of the buckets that dump water on them. Marie loved standing under there and screaming every time one dumped on her. Poor Katie wasn't paying any attention and happened to be walking under one when it dumped. That stopped her in her tracks as she tried to figure out what happend and to wipe her face. That one got all of us parents laughing which made Katie start giggling once her face was a little dryer. Eventually they got tired and hungry so we were able to drag them away to let some more hot and tired children cool off with their parents and grandparents. We were in this area long enough to miss Shamu's show. After we hit the dolphins, everyone was tired (and just a LITTLE cranky) and hungry so we headed out to get something to eat. Since everyone was tired we decided to just hit the road and find a nice drive thru to eat lunch on the way home. That is what is so good about being a resident - you get a year's worth of visits for a little more than the normal one day pass price. This is the best investment we have made this year. They are opening a new water park across the street some time in the spring and I think we will save up and get year's passes to both. It's going to be called Aquatica and looks really cool - can't wait for it to open so we can go try it out.

Sorry it took me so long to get these on here but I was pretty tired yesterday because after Ryan's teething Saturday night he turned around and did it again Sunday night. Actually, Katie started first and about the time I got her settled Ryan woke up. To say I was tired yesterday was an understatement. I was able to get a lot accomplised all things considered though as long as it didn't take any type of brain activity to get it done. :)

Sunday for resting....yeah right!

Well, we're off to Sea World tomorrow and I think I have just about everything packed up in our three backpacks. One for food for Logan and the others, one for all the diapers and wipes and extra clothing just in case and the last one for extra diapers and clothes in case of the other just in case not being enough!

One of the four is out for the count and I'm praying he's out for the night. The biggest boy is yawning while sitting watching the game with Daddy so he could be the next one out. (Please, Please, Pretty Please!!) Marie and Katie are watching Peter Cottontail again (think it's the 5th time today but who's counting right??)

Doing laundry so I don't have to worry about missing out on that tomorrow when we are having fun. Yes I did laundry yesterday and the day before that - never ending. Laundry and dishes will never ever go away!

Daddy's trying to get that final Harry Potter book read so we can talk about it because, yes, I finished it the first weekend. He was out of town at school and I don't sleep well without him so I stayed up late and read and then got up really early (before 4:30) and finished it about the time the kids started waking up around 7:30. Good book - best one of them in my opinion.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing around this afternoon/evening. I will post more sometime tomorrow or Monday. It all depends on how tired, no scratch that, exhausted I am after the S.W. trip tomorrow!

Evenings at our house

I was going to post this last night but, by the time the kids finally settled down to sleep I was too tired to do anything. :)

First step is to get everyone fed before Daddy gets home so that we can eat in peace (yeah I know) Logan goes first because he loves to eat and run. Litterally - he grabs whatever is on his plate and runs through the dining room and play room scattering crumbs everywhere. He likes to check gravity all the time too. He has to make sure it's the same everywhere he goes so he grabs a little bit of whatever he's eating and crumbles it between his fingers and watches while it hits the floor. Once he's satisfied that gravity is as it should be in that area, he smiles and runs off for more.

Katie and Marie come next - Marie is Mommy's big helper by getting Katie up into the highchair. (this consists of nudging her over to the highchair where she will climb up into the seat like a little monkey) Katie's new favorite dinner is a peanut butter sandwich. Don't you dare put any jelly on or it's going to fly through the air. Marie is the easiest to feed as she eats just about anything (with the exception of cucumbers and "anything yucky") She will sit at the table and wolf down whatever I give her so she can run back and play in her room or play with the other kids.

Then comes Ryan. Wow - he's easy for the moment. As you know he won't eat much without yakking it back up on me so we settle on his favorite fruit with some cereal and some juice. Not too much juice because he doesn't like it but enough so he has something in him. Once he's done with his fruit and cereal, (sometimes with a little help from Katie if he's slapping the spoon away) he gets his favorite. He loves his Next Step bottle with a little bit of flax oil for taste.

Now that the kids are fed, Mommy and Daddy's dinner should just about be done cooking. If we're lucky we get to eat with no children climbing all over us (very rarely) Katie likes to eat her p.b. sandwich and then eat with us. Sometimes I can trick her to try to get her to eat new things. Like the time I told her that the sausage bite on my fork was really a hot dog. Yeah, that went over well. She did eat one bite but then said "No, I can't, I not" to the next offer of the "hot dog". After that she wouldn't eat anything else Mommy offered. Way to go Mommy!

Now the fun part begins. We get to chase them around and change diapers and get jammies on so that wherever they stop and fall out they can be covered with a blanket. I'm not sure who is the hardest to get in jammies at this point. Logan will come to me to get his diaper changed and if he's in a REALLY good mood will allow me to put on his jammies but.....

Marie and Katie go into their room and start watching either The Grinch or Peter Cottontail. I know, it's the middle of summer but I say whatever it takes to get them settled down. (When I say them it's really Katie although Marie will watch right along with her night after night after night....)

Logan is watching a Barney video with Ryan and running all around until finally I can't take it anymore and turn off the light. If he's too tired he won't turn it right back on. If I'm lucky he will turn the television off himself, climb up on his couch (his bed) and go to sleep quietly. That happens sometimes. Most nights it's at least 9:30 if not later before three of the four finally go to sleep. Ryan likes to hang out with us in the living room when everyone else is asleep. If we're lucky he will get tired before 10:30 so we can put him in his crib. Just last night, I said to Curtis at 10:15 "Do you hear that?" his response "What?!" - it's the "Silence". We both smiled and then tried to keep our eyes open to watch the game.

Needless to say - I didn't make it too much longer before I fell asleep for about 5 minutes in the chair. I finally gave up after the game went into extra innings and I went to bed. And, yes, it did take a long time to type this and get the pictures uploaded. No, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love where I am right now as I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. :)

Friday Therapy, etc....

Ryan and Logan went to therapy today. Logan for speech with Ms. Cheryl and Ryan for occupational with Ms. Corey. Ryan cried for just a little bit until Ms. Cheryl brought him an Elmo. He stopped crying, allowed Ms. Corey to take him into the therapy room and allowed her to hold him and work with him for about 20 minutes. It's amazing what Elmo can make your kids do!

Katie, Marie and Rhys colored and hung out with Ryan until we could sneak back out of the room. They were able to color and chat with the other therapy patients waiting their turns. We have "borrowed" Rhys a couple of times to make our therapy outing less hectic. When Marie gets bored she likes to irritate the other children for fun. (Hmmm - I wonder where she learned that Uncle Don/Uncle Dave??) Rhys has had a nice calming effect on Marie for the most part which makes therapy day with all the kids a lot more tolerable.

One week from today is meet the teacher so we took a longer route home from therapy so we could show Rhys their school. We will be heading out there next week to see who will be Marie's teacher this coming year for third grade. Where has all the time gone?? Seems like she just started kindergarten! We know which class Logan will be in, the same as last year with Ms. Wilcox. Yeah!!! He loves to be in the class room with her, Ms. Ann and Ms. Kim and all his friends.

Time to get back to some laundry, making lunch and changing diapers. Some days that's all I do and the house looks like a tornado hit it. Once school starts the house will stay clean until 10 minutes after Marie and Logan get home; I hope!

Lots of fun at our house

Logan has decided he'd rather go around without a diaper or anything else on his backside. Katie informed me of this by saying, "Mommy, Logie pooped!" Thankfully, it was just her way of letting me know he was naked! That could have been very messy.

Ryan acted like he wanted some of my banana this morning so I bit off a very very small piece for him to try. He has this aversion to certain textures going on and of course the teeny tiny piece of banana set him off. Thankfully, he didn't yak his entire bottle back up on me just a fraction of it. You would think by now his aversion to chunky food (even if the chunks are really small) would have gone away but it hasn't, which is why he is going to occupational therapy. We're hoping this will get him on the road to being a better eater as he only likes baby 2nd Stage foods that are smooth (and only bananas with apples or pears mixed with it).

Katie and Logan are being potty trained (Katie more than Logan). Katie is so excited to wear the pull up pants and Logan just likes to sit on the big boy potty. He doesn't want to do anything while on there but he sure likes to sit. Katie loves getting rewarded for going potty by getting a cookie. If I could just get Logan to go once, I might see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have a book on potty training autistic children but so far..... I have talked with another parent of an autistic boy, who said her son didn't get potty trained until he was 7. She said to watch out for certain things and when I see that I can really potty train him with great results. I'm going to keep having him go sit when Katie does and maybe I will get lucky!

We're hoping to get to Sea World this Sunday so if I'm able to get some pictures taken I will do so and post them. I thought I had some from the last visit but the pictures are MIA.

See how exciting it is at our house???

Some Summer Fun

Here are a few pictures from a little of the summer fun the kids have had. Will get pictures from Sea World as soon as I can.

Monday - August 6th

Well, it's exactly 2 weeks before school starts and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it. Marie is ready to go back so she can visit with her friends but the house will be so quiet without them! Logan is ready so he can ride the school bus (if they allow Marie to ride too) He had such fun at summer school. I know he can't wait to see Ms. Ann, Ms. Kim and Ms. Wilcox again.

I don't know what Katie and Ryan will do without them home. I'm hoping that they won't get louder to make up for the lack of noise around the place. Katie is always following Marie around especially when her friend from next door is over visiting. She wants to do everything that her big sister does.

Katie is quite the mimic. I have to watch what I say around her so I don't teach her something really "good". Ryan is attempting more words lately. He's been saying "who's that?" which he then gives the answer and it's always "Elmo!" These two love to play with their big brother Logan. Most of the time, he just ignores them but every once in a while he will smile at them or allow them to grab his hand for a minute.

Speaking of Logan..... He has been attempting more words lately as well. He has gotten in the habit of coming to me or Curtis with a book wanting us to say the word. He will attempt it himself, sometimes successfully, laugh and run off to play. His speech therapy with Ms. Cheryl is paying off - way to go Ms. Cheryl!!! Speaking of Ms. Cheryl, Ryan is also going to see her for speech and he loves her as much as Logan does. Since he has been with Mommy all of the time, he doesn't take too well to new people (what an understatement that is!!) so to see him go to Ms. Cheryl and snuggle just warms my heart.

We have the neurologist appointment in September to have her check out our little Ryan but in the meantime, we are having First Steps come in to rule out Autism and to let us know what steps we need to take with him. We firmly believe that Ryan isn't Autistic but just a little delayed. I will post the diagnosis when we get it.

Going to get back to my lovely bunch but will try to get some pictures on here so everyone can see updated photos.