Sunday, September 27, 2009

Here Comes the Sun

I almost don't remember what went on this week. But my trusty calendar always reminds me.

We only had two appointments this week which was nice. Lindy had hearing therapy on Wednesday afternoon. We started reading Halloween books again. It's hard to believe it's that time of year again! Thursday morning Lindy had a routine hearing test and she did great. Her hearing has continued to be stable, which we are very happy about. The audiologists we saw were very impressed with little Miss. They were shocked how well she did with the play audiometry. Chris, our hearing therapist, introduced this to us a few months ago and we've worked on it almost every day. She knocked their socks off Thursday. She would listen for the sound and when she heard it she would put a block in a bucket or put a ring on the stacker. Cathy, our main audiologist, said some 3.5 year olds can't catch on to it! To be two and doing so well is great! We did make make new ear mold impressions while we were there. I don't even remember the last time we got new ear molds. We've had good luck with the present ones.

Friday afternoon we had a meeting with the preschool intake officer to start the conversations about the kids turning 3. Right now they work through early intervention services but when they turn 3 they switch to working with the school system. It was just our first meeting but it gave us a chance to ask questions. We went ahead and set up testing dates for next May for both kids. Once they are tested, the school system will recommend what services they think they need, and then we'll write the IEP's. Then they'll be ready for preschool next Sept. It's a little wild to be talking about it all right now when they just turned 2 but that's the way it works. We plan to get Will tested, even though we aren't too worried about him. Speech might be the only thing he qualifies for but who knows how he'll be talking in May 2010!

We had a pretty fun weekend. Friday afternoon we went to downtown Winston-Salem and walked around. Not too much to check out but it was nice to get out of the house and see something new. Saturday we headed to Raleigh to see a couple birthday girls. We stopped at our friends to drop off a present for Claire, who turned 1 last week. Then we went to Anna's 4th birthday party. We had fun visiting our friends and celebrating birthdays. We have been SO happy to see the sun today. It has been raining or misting for the last 2 weeks. It is really hard on me to stay inside all day with the kids in the rain. We got out and soaked it up today. We went to the CROP walk this afternoon, a walk to help raise money to stop world hunger. Then we took the kids to their first softball game. About 4 girls from our church were playing ball this afternoon so we went to check it out. They were entertained by a bunch of church members and they had a great time.

Some quick notes, Lindy learned how to pick her nose this week. Not really excited about that!! She thinks this new trick is neat. I do not think it's neat. Lindy has continued to take HORRIBLE naps this week. I'm seriously stumped as to what I should do. I am pretty sure she needs the sleep. And I need the break. She goes in her bed from 12:30-2pm everyday and she might sleep 30 minutes on a good day. Thankfully she is still sleeping at night. Will has had a quiet week. Both kids have definitely been testing us lately, but they are both so sweet. I can be so irritated with Lindy and then she'll smile at me and you can't be mad at that smile. Will held one of my fingers for 30 minutes last night on the way home from Raleigh. It was so sweet how he just held on. Between Lindy's smile and Will's laugh, it's hard to stay mad long!

That wraps up our week.

More Lindy climbing. We've found her on top of the table a few times. I spend half my day now saying, "Sit down."
Babes last week before church.
I was trying to get pictures of the kids in their Northwest Missouri State University t-shirts. Here are some outtakes.
Lindy took off walking. Check out her face! She gets so excited to walk.
And finally, a decent one in my trusty chair.
Will found a new corner that he fit in this week.
Cutie pie!
Lindy after one of her meals this week. She's so messy!
Chatting on the phone.
Concentrating on his magna tiles.
The kids love sitting and bouncing on daddy.

Will watches Drew do his push-ups everyday and he now does push-ups too!
Doing pushups together.
Eating a cupcake at Anna's birthday party.
The birthday girl, Anna, blowing out her candles.
Sweeties before church today.
Isn't he the cutest boy ever?
Helping to stop hunger at the CROP walk today.

These slackers didn't actually even walk. They got a free ride!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Colorful Baths

Happy Weekend! It's been a rainy week here in NC and I definitely had cabin fever. It's hard to be cooped up with two 2 years olds all day long, for multiple days.

We had a busy Tuesday this week. We started off bright and early with PT at 8:30am. We had to fix her braces a little, some of the padding came off in a couple places. Heather was impressed with how stable she is looking. She said if Lindy continues to progress so well with walking that we can stop coming weekly!!

We left PT and headed to an ophthalmologist appointment. Most of the time I really wonder why we have to go every 3 months. I guess he wants to keep close tabs on her because he is still so worried something will happen to her retinas again. He did seem pretty impressed with her this time though. He said she clearly favors her left eye (the better one) but can tell that she doesn't mind using the right eye so much when he patched it. All this patching is definitely making the right eye stronger. Unfortunately he said he'd love to see us patch her 3 hours a day instead of 2. I told him that would be HARD. The two hours a day are hard enough. I told him we'd try our best but couldn't promise him anything. You have to keep very close tabs on her during those two hours a day because she gets that patch off as soon as you turn your back. Keeping close tabs on her for 3 hours a day would be really hard. I mean, sometimes I like to go to the bathroom. Alone. Sometimes her brother has a stinky diaper that needs to be changed. The above examples are prime times for Lindy to get her patch off. I refuse to go through 2-3 patches a day. They aren't free. So anyway, we'll try. They did the teller acuity cards again and Lindy did the same as three months ago. She saw the card that says 4.8cm/cycle. A pretty useless appointment for my $25 copay.

Wednesday morning we had governor morehead vision therapy at our house. The kids always love the toys that Leslie brings. It's become increasingly harder to get Lindy to pay attention to one activity. She will crawl off in a heartbeat if we'd let her. Wed. we played with a bowl of rice. Although it made a huge mess, the kids loved it. Leslie brought scoops and Lindy got to practice scooping. Good exercises for her. She also got to build with blocks and did pretty well.

Our only other excitement for the week was I took the kids Thursday morning and we went and did some shopping. It was sprinkling when we left and it mostly sprinkled all morning. Until we were leaving Babies R Us and it was pouring. But we got out of the house, returned some things we needed to return, spent some birthday giftcards, and got some birthday presents. It was a productive trip and the kids did great. I only wish we lived a little closer to the shopping centers. Lindy falls asleep all the time on the way home and then she makes that her ONLY nap of the day. It makes for a rough day.

I think Lindy has another 2 year molar breaking through. It's very hard to check on these teeth. They will both bite you in a second if your fingers are in their mouths. I think I can see the molar on the bottom right of her mouth though. Oh I can't wait for baby teeth to be over with.

Hope you all have a great weekend. It was a rather boring week here.

Hanging out without any pants.
Think there is any teething going on around here?
Doesn't look very safe does it? He was fine, don't worry.
Cute girl.
Two kids completely ignoring their mother.
Training them early to put their dirty clothes in the hamper. Will will make a fine husband one day if he keeps this up!

Lindy cuddling with Daddy after one of her 'mini' naps this week.
Lindy has started climbing. We don't condone this activity.
Happy boy.
Practicing standing.
Handsome boy.

Lindy has taken a small interest in the TV lately. She has to be up close but I guess she sees it.
We've had fun baths this week with the color bath dropz the kids got for the birthday.


I was trying to get purple but it ended up a dark blue. Lindy also had yellow water one night but I'm not sure what happened to the picture of it.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hayley

See this beautiful little lady?

It's my 6 year old niece, Hayley. One week ago today she had a life-changing event take place. A week ago today she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Yes, it's treatable. Yes, kids rarely have long-term complications anymore. Yes, the technology has come really far and now she can soon be on a pump. And yes, they are doing a ton of research and will hopefully find a cure in her lifetime.

But it stinks. She's 6. She has to deal with this the rest of her life. She's 6. She doesn't understand how to count carbs and why she has to take shots so many times a day. She's 6. She doesn't understand why she now has to tell someone every single time she eats anything at all. Did I mention she's 6?

If any of you are the praying kind, say a little prayer for Hayley and her family. My sister and brother-in-law are a bit overwhelmed trying to figure all this out right now.

Yes, once they get it all figured out it will become part of their day-to-day lives. But right now it just stinks!

We love you so much Hayley!!


Monday, September 14, 2009

They are Walking and Talking Better!

I hate when I check blogs and they haven't posted. I hope people have checked my blog and gotten upset. That would mean people actually care what I write about!

It was another busy week. Insane busy for Drew. He preached two funerals last week, on top of his normal weekly work. One of the funerals he preached was for a 77 year old lady who lost her battle with tongue cancer. I'll never forget sweet Claudine. It was at her house that Lindy took her very first step ever! She'll forever be included in the memory of Lindy's first steps.

We had a semi-quiet week appointment-wise. Tuesday morning we had physical therapy and Lindy did great. She took 9 steps at one point. Heather, our PT, changed her statement from, "She'll be walking any week now" to "She'll be walking any day now." Lindy walked 7 minutes on the treadmill! The week before she hated it but last week she didn't mind. I had to take Will with me which always makes for a more stressful appointment. Tuesday afternoon we had hearing therapy with Chris. We played with Play-doh again and had a good time.


The biggest news of the week is Lindy's walking. She has done SO well this week. All summer I've had her in crocs. I was under the impression that her braces were providing the support and they said I could put her in whatever was cute and would fit. With cooler weather impending I found her little sneakers that would fit on her braces. We put them on her Tuesday and she did a ton better in PT. That afternoon she walked across the kitchen. She seems so much steadier in them. We'll catch her standing by herself, looking so steady. She walks like a drunken sailor, but the difference is that she has started catching and balancing herself when she starts to wobble. On Friday night she finally figured out how to stand up by herself. Without pulling up on anything! She's been trying for awhile and finally made it. We are so proud of her!!!


On the pacifier front, things are still S L O W L Y getting better. Will is 100% fine going to bed without it, but he has had a definite change in sleeping. He takes shorter naps and has started waking up between 5:30-6am. He used to get up at 7am. Unfortunately his squawking is waking up Lindy. Lindy has gotten a little better going to sleep without her paci. Friday and Saturday nights she didn't even cry at all! Yesterday she cried some. She is not sleeping as long at naps either. I'm not sure how to get them back to sleeping longer and later. Any suggestions? We have started giving them each a stuffed animal in their beds and I think that has helped a little. They have never been attached to anything. They have had the same 2 lovies in their beds since they came home and they could care less about them. Maybe a stuffed animal can help replace the paci. We'll see!


The funniest story of the week was our trip to Walmart after PT last week. I took the kids in their stroller since we just needed a couple things. I happened upon some cute Halloween shirts and was checking them out. I eventually ended up in front of the stroller and looked down to see the funniest sight ever. Lindy had somehow managed to get her shirt up over her head. She was sitting there with a full bare chest and belly showing. I have no clue how long she was riding like that! People had been smiling at us but now I wonder what they were smiling at. The two cute kids in the stroller or the ridiculous sight of Lindy?!


Will had a good week. He has learned a new word almost everyday last week. His vocabulary now includes bump, help, hot, and hat. So fun to hear him say new words. He is using them appropriately too which I find cool. I was putting him in his car seat yesterday after church and he touched the seat and said "Hot." It was definitely warm from being out in the sun. One thing I've noticed him doing this week is playing with his cars and trains. So cute to see him pushing a little car all over the place. His favorite phrase these days is, "What's that?" It's usually said in a high-pitched squeal while pointing at something. And it only gets louder if you don't answer him. He's obsessed with lights and light switches lately too.


We had a week full of fun visits. Tuesday night we went to some church members house for dinner. We got to ride in a golf cart down to their little fish pond which was fun. The kids got to throw bread into the water for the fish and got to pet their dog. Wednesday we had a friend of mine, Carina, come visit us. I enjoyed some adult interaction and she got to play with the kids. Friday I got to go visit my best friend and see her new baby, Rebecca. She's almost 6 weeks old but I finally got to hold that sweetie! She seemed so tiny compared to my kids!


We ended the weekend with another Wake game. The kids did better this game, despite the fact that it was during their nap time. Both fell asleep at the game for a little bit and they were not as restless. And the game was amazing. Wake scored with 2 seconds left to win! Awesome!


I think that sums up our week. Happy Monday.



The serious side of Will. I caught Lindy on her way down. Peek
a
boo
Funny Will picture. I forgot now what he was saying.
The kids have been playing dress-up with the dish towels this week.

What she was wearing when she went into Walmart last week.
I reenacted how I found her in Walmart.
Sweet monkey boy brushing his teeth.
Sweet girl!
Will was at the mercy of the Daddy Chin-Chopper in this picture.
A fun milestone for Lindy is that she has figured how to climb up on toys. She gets herself on and off the car all day now. Funny to see her coming in the kitchen all by herself!
She can also get on the bouncing zebra by herself. She's so talented she can even get up there with a cellphone in her hand. The girl can bounce and chat on a phone, a multi-tasker.
Sweet baby Rebecca.
Me with the Palmer ladies.
A little sibling fun.

The best together picture I could get yesterday.
WALKING!!! She looks like she is taking a walk on her lunch break at the mall in her dress and tennis shoes!
The drama queen can look so pitiful sometimes!
Walking is FUN!
Self portraits. I took probably 6 of Will and me and every one had his eyes closed!!
But I got a decent of one of me and Lindy.
Napping at the Wake game.
That boy was laid out!