Skye's One!!!!!!

One and walking all over the place. She is so cute. Went to the doctor today:
20 lbs 9 oz 25-50%
28 inches 10-25% Hmmm will she sprout up in middle school or be a shorty like mom?
44 Cm head circum. 50% (short, perfect weight with a big head......)
3 shots and is currently a KlingOn, NOT a baby. The only time she is not a klingon is when we go for walks.....Yes we have been walking daily, given more time it would be several times a day.....
And teeth, wow she now has between 8-10 teeth including 2 molars.

We had a very uneventful first birthday for her, her party will be May 2nd. We are having a combined Skye's 1 and Shea's 3 party since she is too young to care and Shea doesn't like all the attention focused on him. Man I hope we can do this a lot in the future.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend. Saturday went to G-Pops (my dad's) and Grandma Kelly's home. Grandma Kelly was shocked at how well Skye is walking, she also bought Skye a cute little outfit. Kids had a blast playing outside and looking for Eggs. Well Shea couldn't have cared less but he loves the outdoors. (In fact Thursday he decided to take a jog outside as I was changing Skye's diaper and Matt was attempting to bring Cody to Karate. Cody had not closed the front door well.) We had wonderful food, the weather was beautiful and we spent a lot of time outside.

Sunday Cody woke up and looked for the Easter presents for all the kids. Shea unfortunately wasn't feeling well and kept falling asleep twice on me, once on my mom. Poor kid, I am hoping he feels better tomorrow and is able to go to OT. Anyways got a lot done, haircuts for most of the family, laundry, dinner, watched a movie while Shea was conked out on me.....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter/Passover!

Skye's Walking and Teething!

Hard to believe she will be 1 in only a week. While she took her first steps Valentine's day she has chosen now to truly walk. In fact at times to her detriment as she likes to walk with things in her hand, so of course she gave herself a black eye (nothing like making mom look bad.) I would love to get pictures of her but alas with the black eye and the drool rash from all her teething (of course this is when ALL her teeth have chosen to come in poor baby!) it will have to wait a little while. She now has 6 teeth and more coming every day.

Shea's First Day of Preschool!

Isn't he SO cute! So he is officially no longer in Special Ed Idea part C and now in part B (or is it the other way?) center based. So Monday morning I woke him at 6:45, got him dressed (which entails much more then one would think), fed him breakfast and off on the big yellow bus he went (and yes it was a big bus, not quite as big as Cody's but not the little bus either, he has that on the way home.) He fussed a little bit on the bus at first but settled down once they got moving. The bus driver and the aide are SO nice and helpful on both the buses. They certainly make things easier being such nice people. Puts a mother's mind more at ease.

So in school he has been doing very well with little transition problems from home based to school. A few minor issues like the first day transitioning from one activity to another but nothing major. His first day was the first time his teacher met him and I got a note "What a cutie" Of course she is correct. It really surprised me how well he is doing. I thought he would have more transition issues but I am very happy it is going so well.

I think Cody is enjoying some time with mom, we have been able to play on the computer together. I am really looking forward to going to the park and pool with alternating kids. In the morning I can go with Skye and Cody, in the afternoon just Shea while Skye is sleeping (to the pool once it is open or the backyard, obviously not the park) Once Cody is on summer break obviously he, Shea and I will do things while Skye sleeps.

Next week we will resume Occupational Therapy, I put it on hold this week while we started preschool. The week after Shea is going to have a Speech Eval done at the place he has OT and hopefully sometime in the near future do both Speech and OT at the same time. They don't usually do this but it may help Shea. The only downside it that OT can only be right during Skye's naptime OUCH! I can survive this, I can survive this.....

UGH! This is more of a venting post then anything fair warning. I am SO tired of not being able to do so much because of Shea's disability. Right now it seems as though I am just doing the best I can so he doesn't hurt himself. For his birthday I am hoping to get him and Skye a slide/climber thing that usually goes in the backyard but we would put it in the living room. Hopefully that would take care of his climbing needs in a safe way. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope school helps him out in this area. I would like to be able to just pack up and go to the zoo, a park, a movie whatever. Right now it is very difficult since he doesn't understand/listen so he could easly run off. Plus he will cry/whine demand my attention and it just makes it impossible to go out with him and Skye. Poor Cody is a trouper. This summer I may hire a babysitter or have someone over to help with the other kids and take Cody out. I want them to have good memories of their childhood and have it NOT be all about Shea's disability. Although in some ways it does make our lives more fun. How many other homes have an OT room in them with a swing, trampoline, mattress, exercise balls and toys to play in?

Like I said I just hope all the therapy and schooling will help him later so life isn't always like this. Honestly by the time late afternoon gets here I feel like I have been drug through the mud, then done a triathalon and I still have dinner to make, kids to give attention to, kid's activities (like Karate and soon Baseball) baths and bedtime. Then you have a Cody who HATES to go to bed. I am instituting a sticker chart again to help correct this problem. And here he was doing so well for SO long. UGH School next year should be fun since he will have to get up between 6:45 and 7:15 depending on whether I enroll him in the school district here or a charter nearby.

Update

Skye: Littly missy is getting teeth, she currently has 4 and a couple more may be coming in. I am planning on scheduling a time for her to have picutes done. While she has taken her first steps she is lacking in confidence to walk. She is standing on her own and thinking about it. Within a couple of weeks she will be off and running. I can't believe she will be a year soon!

Shea: Little busy man. Has been doing well in Occupational Therapy, not so well in Speech. He starts Special Ed Preschool (ECSE) Monday April 6th. He has a backpack and will go to school 4 mornings a week from 7:40-10:10, we will know when the little bus will pick him up the Friday before. Then in the summer for 5 or 6 weeks he will go 3 days a week. I am looking forward to being able to bring Cody and Skye to the park.

Cody: Loves school. I am looking into our options for his schooling coming up. St Michael just isn't going to be able to keep up with him. There are a few options I want to check into. He is now a purple belt in Karate and we are going to check out Dojo in Roger's MN as the instruction may be better/more strict in knowing the moves. Next summer he will be doing baseball, this summer will just be too busy with Karate and swimming, plus he let me know he had an interest after they raised the fees $25. We are also saving up for the next Karate program which is going to be expensive, or we may do something else. We will see.

Matthew: Just ended basketball and Baseball practices may start April 1st depending on the weather. With practices and baseball it looks like our weekday time with him may be cut down again. Cody will miss him.

Carmen: Looks to have a promising year in real estate. I am thinking of training for a short triathalon for summer 2010. This summer is just too close, although if I can't get my behind in gear I may sign up for the duathalon. OF course this also gives me time to find/save for a decent bike for events and a wetsuit.

Matt: Working hard and looking forward to softball starting. He has started bowling again after a long hiatis and is enjoying it. His softball has their beer bust Saturday April 11th, the day before Easter.

Oh and we were able to refinance for 4.5% with reasonable closing costs, I am SO excited to save quite a bit each month.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Lots going on in our family so I figured I would update the blog.

Matthew: recently went snowboarding with school. He was lucky enough to have Granny Lynn go with him. Unfortunately his basketball team didn't do so well in the playoffs and they are through for the year. Soon baseball begins, April 1st weather permitting (now WHY would anyone schedule something to begin April Fools Day is beyond me...) He is also getting a small lesson on responsibility as he gets to purchase a new adaptor for the game boy as he lost the other one. At least it is a cheap lesson at $10 plus tax. I was just watching the Today show and realized soon we will need to have the sex/drugs/alcohol talk, YIKES! Since some children are having sex at the age of 14 or before it is going to have to be sooner rather then later!

Cody: is still loving school and starting to read books and everything else. The child will bankrupt us buying him books! I plan on buying workbooks to supplement the summertime and hope to participate in the library summer reader program. It also looks as though a week from today he should graduate to a purple belt in Karate (white, gold, green, purple, blue, advanced blue, red, advanced red, then black belt is the order of the belts in his program.) Not sure what we will do with Karate after he is done with the program which ends at red belt. The next program is either a 3 year black belt program for $5000 OR $8000 for a 7 year program! We will see if his interest remains, maybe he will like to take a break and try other things. Although if we leave and come back the price may be even more! I was also thinking if he wanted to we could check into other martial arts programs like Thai Kwon Do.

Shea: Had his 6 month follow up appointment with the developmental pediatrician at Children's hospital in Minneapolis, MN. His doctor is VERY happy with his progress and what we have been doing with him. Called him a "charming little fellow" LOL. This time Shea was very quickly curious about him instead of taking and hour to even acknowledge him. We are also working on the state approving us for TEFRA which is a supplemental insurance program for people with disabilities. It will cover the copays we have and various therapies insurance won't like RDI. I would like to go meet with the people who run the RDI program but until we are approved there is no point. This program is $3000 for 6 months or $5000 for 12 months. Not to mention the $250 we are currently paying for copays for Shea's Occupational Therapy visits (lovely Medica charges us a copay EVERY time we go ACK) TEFRA will run us around $160 a month but as we would save at least $250 it would be worth it.
I will be observing Shea's special ed preschool this coming Tuesday with the intention of his starting March 30th. I will know for sure after I observe when he will start. He is a very stubborn little boy and has decided to stop working with PECs. Was doing well until Christmas and then just stopped. Hopefully the 4 mornings a week will help him a lot. We all figure his being around other children with similar needs he will adapt quickly and have a lot of progress in working with people and interacting better.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to take him for pictures, so wish me luck. I am not sure how it is going to go. However he hasn't had pictures done since he turned one so it is time.

Skye: Now has 2 teeth (well almost they JUST broke through) Poor girl has been miserable, she may also have a cold so hard to tell but not a happy girl right now. She is starting to walk and took her first steps Valentine's Day. She has also been sleeping through the nights for the most part which is a relief to mom and dad!

I am currently drowning in paperwork and wishing for more hours in the day to get everything done. Maybe I will have a clean/picked up house in 10 years or more.....

Matt is working lots and has rediscovered bowling. He has been having fun going out with the boys for $1 bowling on Tuesday nights.

Matt and I also recently celebrated our 10th anniversary. We got away to Alexandria, MN and had a wonderful time. Stayed one night at Arrowwood which has a good sized water park for MN standards, small for WI Dells standards. Had fun and ate at a make your own pasta bar. The next night we stayed at a B&B Countryside which was wonderful. Very nice setup, the owner has 2 rooms he rents out in the basement of his home which are completely separate from his home. Each room had its own bathroom and separate spa that sat 2 people. The rooms then share a sitting room with a fireplace, sauna, and kitchenette. It is a walkout home so the patio doors overlook Lake Mina and we were treated to seeing a herd of 15 deer in the morning. The breakfast was fabulous and I highly recommend his place to anyone looking to get away. We also opened up one of our bottles of wine from Australia we have been saving for a special occasion. Well worth the wait, it was seriously the BEST bottle of wine I have EVER had. 2000 Punt Road Cabernet Sauvengian (spelling?).