OT update

I took Matthew to his OT screen at Bronson on Wednesday and got a few surprises.  Turns out his fine motor screen places him at a 5.3, meaning 5 years, 3 months old.  That was a bit of a surprise to me because I thought it would be much lower.  He is able to string beads, button, lace, draw shapes and line, write his name and do mazes as he should be able to do.  His area of need is his grip/grasp which came out in the 2nd percentile.  So he will receive therapy once a week to strengthen those small muscles to allow him to write better and with more pressure (right now it is very light and wispy).  To my surprise his trunk is weak, so he will also receive services to strengthen those muscles, too.  I would have never guessed because of all the running, climbing, jumping and exercise he gets.

Upon the screen, our OT noticed some "quirks" with Matthew's eyes.  When he needed to focus  and follow a line with his eyes he would look out of one eye with his head at an angle and at times one of his eyes would go cross eyed.  We noticed that he does that a lot when he eats, but they said that was normal because both eyes are focused on the fork as they should.  It is when he needs to go across the page to read that they are not working together.  When she held his head straight he would move the paper to his more dominant eye.  So, I am taking him to an optometrist on Friday for a complete eye exam and a motor evaluation.  Looks like he may need some eye therapy to get his eyes to work together.

I am so glad that we are figuring all of this before he starts school and even more thankful for insurance!  Now that his speech is where it should be, we need to get everything else working together as well.  It is not set in stone yet, but it looks like Portage will be moving to all day kindergarten and most likely all day young-fives.  My push will to have him in young-fives instead of kindergarten.  Our screening is next month and that will give us more information to where he is, especially social-emotionally.
  

Is it February already?!

We have been one busy and happy family this winter (or shall I say the lack of winter).  We managed to get out and sled a few times, shovel a few times and run the snow blower a few times.  The boys are still waiting for their "BIG" storm where we can make unlimited snowmen.  Maybe in a few weeks...or maybe next year. In the meantime we have been taking advantage of the 40-50 degree weather and going for bike rides and walks around the neighborhood these past few weeks.

Matthew is busy as ever and "graduated" from speech at the end of November.  He is now going to go back to Bronson in a few weeks for a fine motor screen, because his fine motor skills are lower than I would like and despite working daily with him I don't want him to struggle with school in a few months.  If he qualifies, great and if he doesn't they will give me things to use at home to help him strengthen those muscles. He has Kindergarten screening in about two months and will attend my school in the fall.  We are hoping for a Young-fives placement because my district is about 99% sure at this point that they will switch to full day/full time kindergarten.  I know he is not developmentally ready for eight hours a day at school!  If we keep young-fives in the district then he will be bussed to another school for that one year and then be with me for K-5.  I still can't believe that he is ready for school, where did the time go?  Matthew will start indoor soccer in a few weeks and he is so excited.  He has been wearing his shin guards and socks all over the house since we got them.  We have a pop-up goal that they boys like to play soccer with in the hallway.

Drew is probably even more busy than Matthew.  He follows Matthew's every move and I wonder what he will do in the fall when Matthew is not with him anymore at daycare.  He is 32 pounds and 36 inches (both 85%), only about 9 pounds lighter than Matthew.  He loves to read books, run, dance and jump off of everything.  He seriously has no fear of anything.  He will dance to any beat...from me humming, a song on the radio or a commercial playing in the background.  He's a mover and a butt shaker!  He has had a major verbal explosion recently and is a talking machine.  He can count to ten (not too clear, but you can definitely hear the initial sounds and the double syllable of seven). Over Christmas we switched the boy's bedrooms and converted the crib into the full bed.  Matthew is now in that bed and Drew took over Matthew's old room and twin bed.  They both love being in a bigger bed and "new" rooms.

We all are looking forward to the warmer weather and the boys are itching to get on the boat.  Drew has never been, so it will be an exciting time for him.  Only a few more months :)

Update on Us

It's been way too long since my last post and there is just so much to cover!  So instead of going into details about things I thought I would just do small bullets.  So here we go...

•  Since my last post Ryan came home and is back to work!  He came home Labor Day weekend      and started back to work with odd jobs for a few weeks.  He now is working at Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven.  He is part of the cooling tower rebuild project and has a pretty easy job.  Most of the job is carpentry work so he is there for support in case they need assistance with the piping aspects.  So far they haven't, which means he is getting paid for ten hour days, seven days a week to sit in a trailer and play games with the other fitter and electrician.  I guess it is payback for being on the road and we will take it all :)

• Matthew went to his first dentist appointment a few weeks ago and had mixed feelings.  He loved the water squirting tool and the polisher/cleaner, but HATED the suction tool.  

• Matthew went to his first game at Spartan Stadium with Ryan in early September and then to another game & tailgate with me yesterday.  He loved the food at the stadium, the bus ride to and from the parking lot, the band, the kickers and punters and Zeke the wonder dog!

• Matthew's speech continues to get better.  So much so that he is now down to once a month for a few months and then hopefully once every three months after the the first of the year.  We couldn't be happier!

• Speaking of talking, Andrew is a talking machine.  Basketball is still his favorite word and he will still find every darn hoop around town and show it to you!  He also likes to say the usual Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye Bye and has added Mine, No, sock, shoe, Matthew (to some extent), Papa, sucker, thank you, bless you (in context and to strangers), please, Yeah, Deah, doggy, more, and so much more that I can't think of right now.

• Andrew's asthma is under control for the time being, but we had some difficulties a few weeks ago when the weather couldn't decide if it wanted to be cold or hot or dry or rainy.  He was up to four breathing treatments a day and is handing them like a pro.  We are ready for what winter has to offer and hope he can stay healthy through it. 

• My class this year is a good one, but a large one.  Again, I have 24 kids, which is far more than previous years.  Gotta love our crappy governor!  Due to student funding cuts we now have larger class sizes.  Our 24 is small compared to the 30 our upper ele. has and the 30's our middle and high school have.  We are still without a contract and I highly doubt we will have one before the year is over.  Our district has no real reason to settle with us and by not having a contract they are saving large amounts of money.  Under new state law if we are without a contract we cover the costs of increased health insurance.  Also, the district does not have to pay staff for classes they took (grad classes), nor do they have to pay our steps and if we ever get a contract they do not have to retro the pay.  Those are just a few of the areas they are saving, there are many, many more!

• We just recently had to put Norm to sleep.  He had a dog version of a stroke last Saturday night.  We knew something was wrong when he couldn't get up and wouldn't eat.  We honestly didn't think he would make it through the night.  He started to hobble around on Sunday, but really could only walk a few feet before falling down.  He was walking on his knuckles, peeing inside and not eating.  I took him to the vet on Monday morning (Halloween) and upon their exam they found a large mass (tumor) in his stomach.  At his age we had already decided that we weren't going to do anything if he had cancer.  We had the option of taking him home and loving him up some more and bringing him back in a week or so, but we had already prepared ourselves and the kids said their final goodbyes so I made the decision to do it then.  If we took him home it would be for us and not for his quality of life.  He was not happy and couldn't get up or walk nor did he want to ear.  I couldn't do that to him.  So, after work I went to say my final goodbyes and it was almost as if he knew.  He didn't get up or wag his tail, he just rested his head in my lap.  My mom and dad also came to say their goodbyes.  I couldn't be there for when they actually put him to sleep, so Dr. Stucki did it at the end of the day.  We should get his ashes back in a few weeks and plan to bury him in the garden under his favorite tree that he often peed on.  He was almost 12 years old and had a wonderful life with us!

•  I will try to do a better job of updating in the future.  There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day right now!  On a side note, I put up a ton of photos to our site if you are interested in looking at them.  Click here

August Update

A little late, but our sweet, sweet Andrew turned 18 months old a couple of weeks ago.  I just took him to the doctor and he is 27 pounds and 33 inches long (50-75th percentile for both categories).  He continues to grow and grow.  He has all but two of his teeth as well.  He cut his bottom two second-year molars a few weeks back and you wouldn't have known it at all.  He is such a happy boy and loves to play with all sorts of toys and books.  His favorite word is "basketball" and he will let you know when you pass a basketball hoop, a basketball at the store, a basketball in a magazine...you get the drift!  We bought the boys a new hoop for the hallway when Ryan was home last weekend and they LOVE playing hoops.  Matthew is getting the hang of shooting the ball instead of throwing it towards the hoop.  Matthew has also gotten the hang of riding his bike and has become quite fast in the process.  Before when I ran with the jogging stroller I would have to run a few houses and then look back around to get slow-poke Matthew.  Now I can sprint and he is still ahead of me.  I love my new jogging stroller and love that I can still get out and exercise with the kids.  

We had a wonderful visit with Ryan last weekend, too.  Coming home to our 90 degree temperatures was a vacation for him.  It has been much, much hotter and way more humid where he is working (heat indexes of 115 during the night) and to make matters worse with the heat he has to wear jeans, long sleeves and work with a hot welder!  He came home late Thursday night until Sunday night.  We spent a lot of time together playing, going for walks, errands, family movie night (Despicable Me was excellent by the way) and just hanging out.  Ryan decided to stay and put the boys to bed before hitting the road based on the weekend's reaction when he would leave the house.  Matthew is very, very aware of Ryan absence and didn't like when Ryan had to leave for a haircut or to run to the grocery store.  When he would start crying Andrew would chime in too and they both would be crying full force.  Monday morning was a little tough on Matthew, but a trip to my classroom cheered him right up.  On the positive side, things here are looking up in the way of work and Ryan should be home by Labor Day or before!  He may have to do some driving once he is home and possibly work on the Lakeshore, but a two hour daily commute would be a much easier sacrifice.

I have started to get back into my classroom in anticipation for the new school year.  It's a little difficult bringing the boys with me because they make more of a mess with the toys and want to get into EVERYTHING!  Luckily the prep work of getting my room ready is much, much less this year thanks to our gorgeous new school and not having to move :)  I have a few more weeks of "vacation" (can I really call this summer a "vacation"?, I don't think so at all!) before officially having to report back.  I am super excited for football to start and the school year to get underway! 

A Much Needed Family Vacation

Loving their time with Daddy

The boys and I met Ryan in Chicago last Thursday for a five day vacation as a family.  This was Andrew's first vacation and first time out of the state.  The boys had a blast with Ryan, as usual.  We went downtown to Shedd Aquarium and saw all kinds of neat exhibits.  We also went to Brookfield Zoo and saw more animals and even ran into a friend from here that was visiting some family in Illinois.  We spent a lot of time hanging out as a family in our hotel, or as Matthew called it, Daddy's house.  Yes, "Daddy's house" has three elevators, cool doors at the entrance, and a pool.  We swam everyday, ate lots of good food (Cheesecake Factory, Portilios, Weber Grill to name a few), saw lots of new things (Matthew loved the shopping cart escalator at IKEA), tons of cool buildings downtown, big airplanes and spent lots of time with Ryan, which is why we were there in the first place!

Matthew's favorite animals were the dolphins (at both places), the giraffes and the lion.  Andrew loved the dolphins, too.  Though he kept calling them fishies...oh well :)  They both loved the dolphin shows at both places.  We saw part of a 4D movie at Shedd (a 15 minute movie of  Happy Feet), but had to leave early because Matthew got freaked out by the moving, shaking and rumbling seats.  Andrew, on the other hand, loved it!  I think my favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit at Shedd and the lion at the zoo.  While we were at the zoo looking at the underwater viewing of the dolphins, something cool happened.  A guy took out a plastic comb and started strumming on the comb fingers at the glass.  All of the sudden the dolphins (at one time all 7 of them) came to the window trying to get the comb.  The strumming is similar to one of the sounds the dolphins use to communicate.  It was quite the site to see and the boys loved it. 

Andrew loved sleeping on his new Aerobed at the hotel and having the freedom to walk around at night and tickle our noses and mess with Matthew while he was sleeping.  We drove around Schaumburg, Barrington and Hoffman Estates and drove by my childhood house.  That brought back lots of memories of old friends.  I completely forgot that we had a lake/large pond in the neighborhood that we would go fishing at and for some reason I thought of the time that I accidentally hooked my brother in the eyelid with my fishing hook.  Sorry, Brian.

The boys were spent by the end of the trip and both crashed in the car on the ride home, a rare thing for Matthew who has not taken a nap for me in over a year!  Once we got home and relaxed, I took the boys to see the fireworks in Schoolcraft.  They were amazing, as usual.  It was Andrew's first experience with fireworks; he stayed home last year.  So, now it's back to reality and back to routines at home.  The boys are adjusting to being home and we all can't wait to see Ryan again in another five weeks.  Let's hope these next five weeks go as fast as our five day vacation!  To see more pictures from our trip, visit our photo site.

We have this exact picture of Matthew, but from two years ago

Getting ready to see the animals at the zoo

The dolphins were mesmerized  with the comb and all came to the glass

Moon Jellies

The Jellies exhibit at Shedd was beautiful

Andrew and Ryan watching the Dolphin show at Brookfield Zoo

 

 

Matthew watching the Jellies

Isn't he gorgeous?!

Ryan and Matthew petting the stingrays

Has it really been two years?

July 2009  Matthew just turned two

July 2011  Matthew just turned four

Makin' it Pretty

I have always wanted to add to my landscaping, but never had the time or money to do it.  I finally bit the bullet this year and just started ripping out grass once school got out.  Once I started I knew that there was not turning back and I had to finish.  Well, after three LONG days of working (over the course of a week) I accomplished what I set out to do.  I don't want to look at a pick axe or a shovel for a while!

It wasn't easy having the kids around, so I had to work on the first day while Andrew was sleeping.  On the second day I took them to daycare and spend eight long hours tearing out grass.  The third day was spend with the boys playing and Matthew being a HUGE help.  Turns out he likes digging, planting, gardening, watering and playing in the dirt.  Andrew on the other hand was a bit to control, so he spend a lot of time playing in his wagon with toys on the last day.  Matthew and I finally finished after Andrew went to bed.  Here is the before and after shots of the yard.  Now we just have to wait for them to grow and fill in.  Thanks to my water boy, Matthew, a lot of the plants are already growing and it's only been three weeks!  To see more progress pictures click here.

Before

My wonderful helper!

After

Matthew's race

My school puts on a 5K and a one-mile fun run for the community.  This was the second race they have put on and it was much bigger than last year.  The weather was beautiful and the kids and families had a great time.  I had planned on running the 5K, but with Ryan being gone it has been nearly impossible to find the time to run on my own.  Instead I decided to run the one-mile run with Matthew.  He did excellent.  He ran the entire time, even after tripping over the curb and skinning his knee.  Of course we stopped at every drain to see if there was water, but luckily the neighborhood behind school doesn't have many drains.  Matthew got a ribbon when he crossed the finish line and he was SO proud!  We stayed for the metals ceremony and Matthew had a great time cheering for all the 5K winners.  Hopefully I will get some more pictures of the race and the photographers throughout the course start submitting their pictures. 

Ryan will be home in 5 days for a weekend visit and we all can't wait!  Matthew has been tearing off his countdown every morning.  He never lets me forget either.  School is out in two weeks (on Matthew's birthday) and I have to admit that I have some reservations about it.  School and daycare are my routine and they both really help make the days go faster.  Weekends have been super busy and that helped too.  As much as I hate to make my days go by faster, because that means the boys are growing up way too fast, I also need that to help this time in our lives to be over.  My fear is that once I am out for the summer I will get a little stir crazy being home with the kids 24/7.  I have set up for them to go to daycare every Thursday so I can get things done, like mowing the lawn, appointments, grocery shopping, etc.  We do have a few trips planned, too, but I hope we can keep the rest of the days busy and fun-filled too.  

I can do it...

All of the sudden, Andrew decided he wanted to be the one to feed himself and wouldn't let anyone else do it.  So, I gave him his fork and let him dig in.  He gets such a thrill and enjoyment of doing this; I just love it!  He's doing okay with the messy things, such as applesauce and yogurt, and usually requires a bath after dinner.  Mainly due to the food in his hair.  He loves to pick up the plate or bowl and put them on his head.  

As the weather gets nicer and work winds down our lives are getting busier and busier!  I am looking forward to next month when school is out and we are free to go as we please, play as long as we want outside, and really not give a care to the world.  Matthew LOVES doing yard work and will try at every opportunity possible to get outside and mow the lawn.  Just the other morning he let Norm out and I caught him in the backyard, in his jammies with bare feet, removing our downspouts so I could mow the lawn.  Explaining to him that I had to go to work didn't go over too well with him.  Luckily for him, his good behavior at Deah's earned him a tractor ride with Donny.  That made his day!  

In work news, our area millage renewal passed (by over 70%).  The day I voted I had told Matthew that I would be voting and then we could go home.  He thought I said boating and was pretty persistent that we get the boat in the water.  Poor guy was pretty disappointed when he finally realized that voting and boating are two different things.  The millage renewal was wonderful news to our district because now we are only about 4 million in the hole instead of the 8 million we would have been if it hadn't passed.  There are a lot of changes going on for next year.  Luckily I was "safe" from getting one of the courtesy letters, but 265 other employees of the district weren't so lucky.  They are looking to outsource all custodians, secretaries, bus drivers, cut music, some art, Reading Recovery, Gifted and Talented programs, reading paprapros and other support staff, librarians, food service, and the list goes on.  We will know the finals in June as to who and what will be cut to help balance the budget thanks to our crappy Governor Snyder. 

Three more weeks and Ryan will be home for a visit.  He was going to make his annual trip up north with his friends, but chose to stay at home for the entire weekend with us.  We look forward to spending lots of time with him doing many family things, including celebrating Matthew's 4th birthday!  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can get the boat out for a day or so.  Crazy to think he'll be heading to kindergarten/Young-Fives screening next March.  Where did the time go?

9 weeks at last!

The first stretch was finally over and after 9 long weeks, Ryan was able to come home for three days!  He surprised us all by coming home early Thursday morning instead of really late Thursday night.  When Matthew first saw him, he just said "Hi Daddy" like it was any other day.  Then it sunk in and about 5 seconds later he turned around and yelled "DADDY!!".  The hugs and kisses didn't stop all weekend!  Drew was in amazement and had the best look on his face.  He was a bit shy at first with Ryan and wouldn't Ryan hold him.  It only took him about 10 minutes to warm up to him and then Drew was handing our hugs and kisses all weekend long too.  It was so nice for Ryan to actually see Drew's walking and running skills in person and listen to him say "Mama", "Dada", and "Ball".   

It was nice for Ryan to have a break in the nasty weather they have been having down there.  On Wednesday night his work was evacuated because of tornadoes.  When he and Gary left work they actually drove through part of one.  The wind was so powerful that it pushed Gary's truck (a 7,200 pound Dodge beast) horizontally across the street.  Ryan said there was wind and debris flying all over the place.  On the way home they had to move 2 trees that had fallen in the road.  Overall, they have gotten over 6 inches last week alone.  On Friday, St. Louis got hit pretty hard with 12 tornadoes!  We were very happy that Ryan drove this trip and didn't fly, because it would have been uncertain if he would have been able to fly in to St. Louis today.  So all in all coming home to 50 degree weather was a nice, chilly break from his 85 degree severe thunderstorms.

I took a half day on Friday so Ryan and I could get some errands and odds and ends done.  We bought Matthew's birthday present, because Ryan wanted to be a part of it and his next trip home will be for Matthew's birthday.  We spent most of the weekend as a family, just the way we needed it to be.  We did have some time that Ryan and I went out just the two of us and we also celebrated our birthdays with Ryan's family.  The four of us started a movie night on Saturday, but Drew fell asleep during his breathing treatment and Matthew passed out about 30 minutes into Toy Story.  We had a very casual and spur of the moment Easter with my parents.  The boys got to have an egg hunt in their yard and after our lunch we came home to get Ryan ready for his trek home.

Before leaving, Ryan took Matthew and Drew on their first JD tractor rides of the year.  A perfect way to end the weekend in those boys' eyes!  Of course once Ryan drove away, Matthew started asking for Daddy.  The next five weeks will hopefully fly by and Ryan will be home again with us for the weekend. 

Check out some more photos at our picture site.  We can't wait for Memorial Day Weekend.  Love you Daddy!

Ryan's New Job

Ryan finally got put onto Gary's work site and will start on Monday!!  What does this mean for him???  Well, the site he has been at for the past five weeks was 90 minutes away and the new site is only about 20 minutes away.  The old site he was working alone with nobody he knew and doing all the driving by himself.  The new site is with a few friends and he can carpool with Gary on a daily basis.  The old site was five days a week for 10 hours and the new site is six days a week for 10-12 hours, with many more opportunities for overtime.  The old site was outside, so if it rained they were sent home.  He has not worked a full 50 hour week since arriving there five weeks ago.  The new site is inside so weather is not a factor. 

An added bonus...the new site has "family weekends" since they have so many travelers.  On a Family Weekend, they shut the plant down for the entire weekend so guys don't miss out on more work to be with their families.  They don't have them every month, I think it is around every two months.  The next Family weekend is Easter(only four weeks away!), which is when Ryan was going to come home anyway.  The only downfall of the new site is that Ryan will be working nights now and not days.  We will have to figure out a schedule to Skype (most likely on the weekends until I am out of work).  He might have to call during the day and leave a "goodnight" message to the boys to hear before going to bed.  That is one minor thing we can work out.

My Spring Break starts on Friday.  I don't have many plans except spending a lot of time with the boys, a few doctor's appointments and a trip to the outlet mall with my mom to get the boy's their new spring and summer clothes.  My students really need the break from school and illness.  I luckily have managed to dodge all the germs and illness that has hit our school.  Not sure how seeing as my whole class has had it...maybe I'm immune?!  

There is a lot of other things going on at work now that have been stressful.  Our Superintendent and our Board of Education had a horrible relationship and they forced her out with a hefty buyout one year before her contract was up.  Now they want to spend even more money with an interim Superintendent and then hire a new one.  They want us to become a "Super tier" district, yet none of the board members can even define what that is.  What Superintendent in their right mind would want to come work for this board?  The two most controversial board members are up for re-election (the president and vice-president) and hopefully the community will not re-elect them!  I wish I could vote for this, but I can't.  With all the cuts our crappy, new governor is making to public education, the choice of spending more money (which they don't have) was an outrage to the community.  It has created an uproar in Portage and many unhappy staff members.  On top of that, with all the new cuts, we somehow have to cut another $3-8 million from out budget (the number varies depending on an upcoming county mileage renewal).  We (the teachers) helped to cut millions last year by choosing to pay more for insurance (20%), take a pay cut to prevent the layoff of 45 teachers midyear, add minutes to the school day so the district could dismiss one-two weeks before the rest of the area to save even more money on the part time workers.  Now the district is proposing cutting all the early intervention reading specialists (Reading Recovery and reading parapros), outsource our Secretaries and the rest of custodial, and the big whopper...class sizes of 30 in elementary and last I heard over 35 for middle and high school!  I think we all need a break from that. 

In happier news, Matthew's speech teacher has started his one year evaluation.  They only got through one area and Matthew is now slightly above his age level for comprehension!  Hopefully next week Ken will be able to get to Matthew's expressive language screen.  He has grown so much this past year and we couldn't be happier.  Matthew goes back to the ENT on April 18th for an exam and new hearing test to make sure everything is alright.  Drew is practically running now and is into EVERYTHING!  He loves to follow Matthew around and they just laugh all the time now!  Matthew loves being able to play with him and teach him new things. 

Matthew has done a lot of growing up these past five weeks.  He has been such a great help.  He continues to help empty the dishwasher and knows where everything goes.  He loves, loves, loves to do the laundry and will gather it all for me and help switch it all over.  He also loves going to the grocery store (odd, I know).  As long as he can see the fish and the lobsters he will help in any way I need.  His favorite, by far though, is running the vacuum so we do that often too.  He loves to talk and see Ryan on Skype and once he gets his bedtime chat with Ryan he will go to bed on his own.  He gets his jammieswatch a movie.  This is by far his favorite activity and mine too!  Showing tonight at the Chenery cinema is A Bug's Life, can't wait :)

Two weeks down

It has been two weeks since Ryan moved away and things here are finally settling into a routine.  The first week that Ryan was gone we had a major winter ice storm.  Luckily we only lost power at our house for about 5 hours, but other parts of Portage were out for 4 days, including our daycare!  School was canceled for the first two days and then when the power was finally restored a power surge fried the motherboard and almost all the individual heating units for each classroom (about 30 of them).  So, my school was canceled for another day.  The district was planning on opening for Thursday, but without all the parts needed we still didn't have heat.  It was a good thing, because Thursday morning there was a bad car accident outside of school and the two cars involved split the power pole in half, again knocking power out to school and this time frying the remaining heating units that didn't go in the first surge!  They are still trying to fix all the problems a week later from this mess.  So, our school had the entire week off.  It was a very long week for us, but Matthew and I were able to go to Jungle Joes on Saturday with some friends to blow off some stream.

Due to the week off of school we had to reschedule conferences for this past week.  Monday and Wednesday were conferences and I was booked both nights until 9:00.  On top of conferences and getting Matthew to speech in the middle of it, Drew got sick again.  His last ear infection never went away with the first round of antibiotics and now turned into a double ear infection.  On top of that his wheezing flared up and he was officially diagnosed with asthma (something we have suspected since October).  Drew is taking after his mommy!  He now gets nebulizer treatments four times a day until this flair up subsides, then it is twice a day until spring for preventative measures.  He is handling the face mask okay, some days and treatments are better than others.  It works really good when he is asleep and doesn't fight me :)

We were able to purchase a new laptop and get it down there to Ryan so he can now Skype with us!  Matthew is so excited to see daddy on the computer and talk to him on the phone.  Drew is mesmerized by the fact that Daddy is on the computer too.  Ryan got to see Drew walking all over the house in person too and not just on a video.  Walking is his main mode of transportation now and he is a pretty confident walker!  Drew is now climbing onto everything, including the couch...super!  He talks and babbles a lot and imitates sounds all the time.  He calls me 'mom' and Ryan 'dada'. 

Matthew has his good days and his not so good days when it comes to missing Ryan, but every night when the phone rings, Matthew is the first to answer it.  Once he talks to Ryan he gets in his bed on his own and goes to sleep.  It is now part of his nightly routine.  He loves his friends at daycare and loves having school time there too.  Now that Drew is more mobile, Matthew has really turned around with him.  He loves playing with him and his jealousy issues have subsided.  He will hold Drew's hand and walk him to other toys or books.  They wrestle together and play on the bed laughing all the time.  Peek-a-boo is still a favorite and Matthew loves playing it with Drew under the covers.  The joy of hearing those laughs is amazing.   

We have had enormous support and help from family in town and many, many friends.  I couldn't have gotten through the last two weeks without all the support.  Thank you for the emails, phone calls, texts, watching my boys and the hugs.  I can't wait for the next 6 weeks to fly by so we all can see Ryan in person.  We have already started planning a few trips this summer, including a weekend in Chicago (about 4 hours away for Ryan).  Ryan will come home in the fall for a few football games, but not the whole season.  We are also looking forward to a family weekend at Great Wolf Lodge (also in the fall) with both boys this year.  I plan on flying down there this summer too for a weekend visit.  I'm not sure if I will take the kids for the 8 hour car trip, but who knows, knowing me I probably will (I don't have much else to do this summer).  From what I have heard, St. Louis is an amazing city with lots to do.  I would like to explore it with just Ryan and again with the kids, visiting museums, zoos and the arch!  One museum I would like to see is called City Museum (Matthew's speech teacher told me all about it).  It is amazing with all levels of exploration, caves, tunnels, etc.
Plus, Ryan is living with Gary, Blair and their son Henry (who is three months younger than Matthew), so a trip down there would be fun for all the kids involved!

Not a morning person

I finally found the software to upload our videos to my computer and forgot about all the videos I had taken over the past few years.  We have film on Matthew crawling for the first time, his first steps as well as Drew crawling and the boys goofing off together.  I'm so happy that we took it when we did, because half of the footage I completely forgot about.  I came across this one and wanted to share how our mornings are at home sometimes.  I know I have felt like this before and Matthew is like this all the time.  He is definitely not a morning person.  Anyway, this is from Christmas 2009 (about 3 weeks before Drew was born) and Matthew was just waking up for Christmas morning.  Enjoy :)

Drew walking

Here is some video of Drew walking just for you, Daddy.  He has been taking some steps here and there, but once Ryan left he really started taking off.  I will be posting more and more video for Ryan to see the boys.  Enjoy

And we're off...

This has been a whirlwind of a week and I will be glad when it's over.  Ryan found out on Tuesday morning that he was going to be going back to work...in Southern Illinois!  He starts on Monday and had to move today.  We are relieved that he is back to work (he's been off since the end of September and has been off for more than two years of the past three), but it's going to be very, very hard not having him here.  Ryan and I have been together for 16 years and we have never been apart for longer than a week.  We both know that this is what is best for our family at this point and this time away will be for the best in the future.  We are guessing he will be there for about a year unless something miraculous happens in Michigan and the economy picks up again.  I don't see that happening.  So for now he will live in Belleville, IL and work in Wood River, IL, just outside of St. Louis. 

His first trip home will most likely be in April for our birthdays and then again at the end of May for his annual fishing trip and Matthew's birthday.  We plan on meeting a few times this summer in Chicago and possibly Indianapolis with the kids for an extended weekend.  I'd love to visit St. Louis and I might take a trip down there with the kids too, but don't know how they will do on the 7 hour car ride...maybe a night drive is in store?

Matthew doesn't quite understand; he just knows that Daddy is at work and he can talk and see him on the computer and talk to him on the phone.  Drew will also notice his absence, but won't really know it.  Luckily he is staying with our friend Gary and we can Skype until we can get Ryan his own laptop.  It's going to be hard, but I know that we can do it.  We have a wonderful family and a great circle of friends that will help us out, I just need to know when to ask for help.

I know my job will consume a lot of my time and keep my mind focused on other things.  Hopefully the next two months will fly by so we can see Ryan again.  Thank you to everyone who is helping and supporting us in this journey. 

Drew

Drew recently went to the doctor for his one year checkup.  He is doing great and staying on is growth curve.  Here are his stats:

             Weight: 23.8 pounds

              Height: 29 inches 

He got four shots this time around and handled them like a champ.  I think he is used to getting beat up by Matthew that a little poke in the leg is really nothing for him.  We also had his follow-up at the eye doctor and everything looks good from his probing.  We don't have to go back until he is six years old unless we notice the build up again.  We will see some of the discharge and watery eyes when he has a cold because his nasal passages on that side are much narrower that the other side.  In an odd way it is kind of nice because it happens before the actual cold surfaces, so we have a little bit of a heads-up.

Drew is well on his way to walking and at this point will walk when he wants to walk.  The most he has taken is about 10-15 steps across the room.  The more attention we draw to it, the quicker he will go down and prefer to crawl, which he is incredibly fast at.  So, we try to "ignore" him when he does let go and walks on his own.  He transitioned to whole milk in mid-December and is doing great without a bottle.  His sleep patterns at night have gotten much better.  A few months back, the day we came back from Great Wolf Lodge to be exact, he started having troubles sleeping through the night.  He would wake up two to three times in a night just screaming and nothing could get him calmed down.  Then all of the sudden, on the night of his 1st birthday party, he snapped out of it and has been sleeping 12 hours a night without getting up.  My mom bought him the "twilight turtle" and that seems to help him calm down.  It worked so great that Matthew wanted one and now asks to go to bed to see his turtle.  I love that invention :)

Matthew continues to grow and is getting bigger by the day.  He recently had a growth spurt and is about the same height or taller than most of his friends.  He loves to get himself ready for Deah's or bedtime.  We have to allow for extra time to let him do it himself.  He can completely get undressed and dressed on his own, including his underwear, socks, shoes, jacket and hat.  He needs help with the initial zipper on his jacket, but he needs to finish it all on his own.  He normally "picks" out his clothes, those that he can reach in his dresser and then tells me what shirt to get from the closet.  

Speech continues to go great and he will have his one year evaluation in a few weeks.  It's amazing how far he has come in one year.  We go back to the ENT in early April for a recheck on his ears and another hearing test.   

Santa

I forgot to add this to our December post.  This was the first year that Matthew would actually sit on Santa's lap and ENJOY it!  He was so excited to see Santa this year and got to see him twice.  The first was at the Schonveld's annual Christmas party.  And of course the second was at the mall with Drew.  Drew didn't go to the party at the Schonveld's because he was sick at the time, but handled the mall Santa quite well.

Drew's first birthday!

Drew is officially one today (at 3:55 am to be exact) and it brings some mixed emotions for me.  I felt this way when Matthew turned one and still get mixed emotions when he has a birthday.  This year flew by and it is not that I want to be back to where I was 12 months ago with a brand new baby, but I wish the time went by at a slower pace.  I think knowing that he is my last baby and knowing that I won't be holding a new baby is kind of sad.  He is growing up and hitting all sorts of milestones and I am starting to forget the early days.  I love that he still like to cuddle and I love my time with him at night when I give him his bottle before bed.  Usually when he is done he is incredible sleepy and I take advantage of that quiet and sincere time with him.  I know that he won't want to cuddle like this forever and Matthew rarely wants to, so I am going to milk it as long as I can.  He has been such a great baby with a laid back personality.  He just goes with the flow of life and nothing seems to really bug him.  I look forward to the coming years and hope they do not fly by as fast as this one did.  Here's a monthly progression of his growth...enjoy

 Less than an hour old

 

one month old

two months old...pretty much slept all the time

 

three months old and starting to lose all his baby hair

 

four months old

 

five months old

 

six months old

 

seven months old

 

eight months old

 

nine months old and showing off those pearly whites

 

ten months old and eating...go figure

 

eleven months old and happy as can be

one year old!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet baby boy.  Thank you for a wonderful and eventful first year.