Thankful

Today I am vastly aware of how blessed I am to have two wonderful little boys. They both certainly challenge me and stretch me in many ways but they make up for it with their sweet, loving spirit.

Every day, I mean every day, Nicholas comes bounding in through the door after school with a huge grin on his face just so happy to be in the comfort of our home; and humbly I add-- to see his mom. He always runs to find me if I'm not in the kitchen when he comes through the door. I ask him how his day was and he says, "good" with a smile so big his eyes are barely open and with a few fidgets of his hand, while bouncing on his toes. These little quirks are what makes Nicholas, Nicholas.

Today, Aron fell asleep on the way home from dropping Addison off at preschool. It's unlike him to be so sleepy that early in the morning. I thought for sure when I took him out of the car when we got home that he would wake up and be ready to play. To my surprise, he stayed asleep so I held him for a good hour before he woke up. I didn't get any of the things done I was planning to do while Addison was at school today; but I can't think of a better use of my time during that hour.

As of Friday, Sept. 18th 2009, I am officially calling Aron a walker!! We are so excited to see our little guy cruisin' through the house. He's even doing well outside on uneven ground! He really thrives on positive reinforcement--you can just see the excitement in his face when you are cheering him on.

Today I had to laugh...again. When I took him out of his crib this morning he did not want to let go of his nuk so I just let him keep it until I got breakfast ready. At some point I look and there he is with TWO nuks in his mouth at once! He must have found one somewhere and couldn't decide which one was better!

How lucky am I?

Every single day at my house is comical. My kids crack me up all the time. Addison says something every day without fail that makes me laugh so hard I'm about to pee my pants or at the very least, smile and shake my head.

This morning it was "yellow" day at school. Addison had already gotten dressed and was downstairs coloring at the kitchen table when I realized I had forgotten it was yellow day. I told her I had forgotten about yellow day and we should go upstairs and change her clothes. Without missing a beat she informed me that she did not want to change her clothes and she would just wear the black shirt she had on (which was actually a navy floral dress) because "it already had stink on it". Eventually I talked her into changing her outfit and told her she could wear the dress tomorrow.

22Q Awareness Walk

One of the mom's in my online support group is coordinating a walk for 22Q! I think this is a pretty big deal since many people are not familiar with the diagnosis. It's going to be held in Glen Ellyn on Aug. 22. I posted a link if anyone's interested in more info.

http://ramonamae.com/2009/slow-and-steady-a-walk-for-22q11-awareness/

Here's a link that tells about her little girl, Ramona.
http://ramonamae.com/the-begining-of-the-story/

Legoland and Build-A-Bear


What a fun, fun day with the kids! Paul had the day off for the 4th of July holiday and we decided to surprise the kids with a trip into Schaumburg to go to the Legoland Discovery Center and then lunch at Rainforest Cafe. After further discussion Thursday night, we decided that Paul would take the boys to Legoland and I would take the girls to Build-a-Bear at Woodfield and then we would meet for lunch at Rainforest Cafe. It can be very pricey to get into Legoland, but we discovered a great deal--it was Pirate weekend at Legoland! If your child dressed up like a pirate they got in for FREE! Woo Hoo! We did not have pirate garb on hand so Taylor drew a pirate shirt for Nicholas and we colored her eye patch black, put a bandana on his head and he was good to go!

Outside Legoland--you can barely see Nicholas under the giant Lego giraffe

Nicholas standing in front of a lego model of the city of Chicago

Nicholas learning about how Legos are made at the Lego factory

Aron has no idea where he's at but enjoys watching all the people

Hard to decide which Nicholas thought was cooler...

Batman or.....

R2D2

Here we are at Build-A-Bear. Addison is standing in front of the machine with all the stuffing for the bears and when she first saw it she said, "I want a snow cone mom!"

Taylor picking out clothes for her "Hannah Montana" bear

Taylor and her bear, "Jewel"

Addison was so proud of her bear, "Sally". She picked everything out all by herself--right down to the

UNDERWEAR!

The girl's have their bears and are ready to do a little shopping before we meet Dad and the boys at Rainforest Cafe.

Aron liked watching all the fish. That was better than eating lunch--surprise, surprise!

The kids are sitting on the edge of the water where the crocodile was; which is why you don't see Aron in the picture. I was afraid he'd end up in the water if I tried to get him in the picture. Maybe another time!

It's Been Awhile!

You know it's been too long since your last posting when you forgot your password to get into your account and have to reset it! I actually started to write this post on June 9th and obviously got distracted because I never finished it. So, I'll leave some of that info and update where necessary.



The kids are having a fun, busy summer so far. Last week, Taylor, Nicholas, and Addison went to vacation bible school. They all had a really good time. That was Addison's first time doing anything like that all on her own. Of course she had no trouble--she just went right in and found her group and joined right in. I wouldn't be surprised if she led the group next time. :)



Two weeks ago Taylor went to a "spirit squad" day camp. She had a great time doing cheers and making hair scruchies. In a few weeks she will go back to camp for "mad science." She's especially looking forward to that and two of her girlfriends will also be in that camp.



We've been going to the library and the park, running through the sprinkler, having playdates with friends, etc. Time is going by very quickly. I've been working on "school activites" with them also. Taylor gets her worksheets done before I can even get Addison and Nicholas settled. It's a struggle to get her to get her reading done though. She'd rather play Webkinz on the computer all day with Olivia.



Nicholas has improved a lot with his writing over the past couple of months. He has started karate at the Y and is really enjoying it. There's another Nicholas in his class with the same exact birthdate and year. Weird huh?!



Taylor had her first appointment with a vision therapist about a month ago. Taylor has "exercises" that she will be doing to improve the vision in her left eye. The hope is to get her vision in that eye to 20/40 which is legal for driving. When we get to that point she will no longer need her glasses for protection of her "good eye" and she will be fitted for a contact lense in the left eye. She was excited to hear this since she hates to wear her glasses. This keeps her motivated to do her exercises. Pretty simple stuff actually. She has glasses that have a red and a green lens (like 3D glasses) and she wears them while watching tv or playing on the computer and we put red and green cellophane over the screen. The point being, that if she is not using both of her eyes she won't be able to see the whole picture on the screen. She also has some tracing activites that she does while wearing the glasses. Again, if she's not using both of her eyes, she won't be able to see the picture in order to trace it. It's actually very fascinating stuff.



Taylor has since been back for a recheck and her vision has improved significantly. She went from 20/200 to 20/70 in a matter of three weeks! We will go back for another recheck the 3rd week of July.



We are very excited to learn that our insurance company has reviewed our appeal and reversed their decision about CHOP. They just finished reviewing all of Aron's medial records and met with their "team" to discuss who he should see while he is out there. He will have 14 different appointments while we are there. Now his file has moved to "complex scheduling" and when they figure everything out they will call us with the dates of when we will go. It looks like it will be late fall or early winter.

I am thrilled to report that since my last posting, Addison is completely potty trained. Once she decided she was ready, it was very easy. I was a little worried last week when she was at VBS because I wasn't with her to remind her and she was still pretty new at the whole potty business but she did remarkably well and did not have any accidents!

Aron is using his little muscles to stand from a squatting position without holding on to anything. His little thighs are going to be built up in no time the way he continues to squat and then get up over and over. Yesterday he even stayed stainding while I handed him his cup and drank from it. He's definiely getting stronger everyday.

It's also been wonderful to discover that he is understanding more and more of what we are telling him. The other day, I was calling him from the other room and he "called back" back to me saying maaamaaa. At first I wasn't sure I heard him right so I did it again and sure enough he kept calling me after I would call him.

Yesterday he was a little peeved at Paul for installing a lock on his favorite drawer in the kitchen. He loves to empty out the tupperware drawer which is harmless enough but when there is 50 pieces of tupperware and he does it 50 times a day, it can be a little exhausting---for me.

Last Wednesday Paul and I started volunteering for the Awana program at our church. I think it's going to be a very rewarding experience to work with the kids. It's a great family activity that we all participate in. We go at 5:30 and have dinner first and then we're off to shepherd the kids!

Another day, another pair of undewear...

We've stayed in all day today in hopes of being a successful passenger on the potty train. Addison woke up this morning and decided she was going to wear underwear and keep them dry. Good for her to have a positve attitude. Since this morning we have had 6 pairs of underwear on and it's not quite 3:00. That's about a pair an hour. Gotta give her credit for trying I guess. Each time she's wet, she wants to put underwear back on instead of a diaper. That's something I suppose. She's got her ticket and she's determined to ride the potty train!


Taylor's looking forward to a field trip tomorrow at Severson Dells. I'm glad to see we're supposed to have nice weather. Tomorrow night is her 2nd grade concert at Machesney Elementary which she is also looking forward to. She is definitely a very outgoing girl who loves lots of different activities and is not afraid to get right in there and join the fun. I love that about her and I hope that she will always be so confident. I will try to do my part to continue to encourage her and nuture that part of her.

This morning she was sitting with me watching the news and she saw Farrah Fawcett's name on the screen. She laughed that Farrah was a name. She informed me that Farrah was a hairstyle, not a name. Oh the things she's learning in 2nd grade!

Nicholas had a play date with Emma from down the street on Sunday. On Friday he came home from school and said, "Guess what mom? Emma had a pretty dress on today." He's a very complimentary young man. We walked down to get her for their playdate and he told her she better ride her bike down because he lived several miles down the street. On the way home after dropping her off, he asked when he could take her to breakfast. I suggested maybe she could come for hotdogs for lunch sometime and he thought that sounded ok.

Aron is finally well. No ear or sinus infections. He went for a recheck from the recheck on Friday and she gave him the all clear. It's about time. He had 20 straight days of ear drop antibiotics four times a day. That's 8o doses!

He and Nicholas are going on May 21st for tubes. Aron is having his right one replaced and Nicholas is getting them for the first time. Nicholas has fluid in both ears that's been there for a long time so this should take care of that and prevent further problems.


Now it's time for me to switch loads and get Addison into the bathroom!

My Boys

I have always felt since Nicholas was very little that he had this gentle, sweet, and loving spirit. There is a kindness about him that is so touching. I don't see it on a day to day to day basis but when I do it stops me right where I'm at and I am reminded of what a special boy he is. Tonight was a perfect illustration of that loving spirit.
Aron was climbing up the stairs and normally Nicholas is so busy running around in his own little world that he would just blow right by him and be off to the next thing. But tonight he got down next to Aron and crawled up a few stairs with him and was talking to him just as if Aron could really understand what he was saying and have a conversation with him. Aron turned and sat on the stair and Nicholas sat right next to him and said, "Aron, I think about you when I'm at school all day. I think about you cuz I love you buddy. I care about you all day when I'm at school." I was up in Nicholas' and Aron's room putting away laundry and heard this and just stopped. These are the moments in our journey as mothers that make all the everyday trials and tribulations seem so worth it. These are the moments that you feel reassured that you are doing something right. I live for these moments.
This is a perfect example of why I wanted to do this blog. I want to remember moments like these and if I don't write them down, they will all too soon fade away and be lost in the everyday chaos of this season of my life.

Finally a Post!

Well I haven't been as on top of this blog thing as much as I would like but I'm vowing that I will get better! It seems like free time is very lacking these days since Addison and Aron either do not want to nap or don't nap at the same time. As a matter of fact as I am typing this right now a very tired and fussy Aron is slobbering all over my knee and Addison is probably coloring on the kitchen floor or rummaging through the fridge.


So, I had a birthday last week and thanks to my husband I am maintaining my blog on my very own laptop! I was very surprised and very, very excited! He even went so far as to get me a pink mouse to go with it. What a guy!


Other news: Taylor has been in a forensics competion over the past two weeks and Saturday was the regional competion. She did very well and we are so proud of her!













Addison continues to entertain me as always. We went to Walmart this morning for a few things
and as we were in the checkout she was her usual chatty self, talking with the pregnant lady in line behind us. She started telling her about her brother and her pink shoes that she was wearing and that she was buying an umbrella. This was all innocent enough and then the curious 3 year old emerged and asked the very pregnant mom, Why is your tummy so big?" The lady told her she had a baby in there and Addison then asked, "How did that baby get in there?" Luckily by that time I was swiping my debit card and we were packing up to go.




On the way home she gave me the play by play like she often does. We were stopped at a light and she saw a goose in the grass at Dairy Queen. I asked her what she thought the goose was doing. Did she think the goose was going for icecream? She matter of factly replied, "No, she's eating yard. That girl makes me laugh everyday!

Hello Everyone!

I am very excited to start this blog for many, many reasons.

I think it will be a great way to stay connected with friends and family. Life is crazy with four wonderful, energetic children and I think this will be a good way for everyone to keep up on what’s happening with us.

Also, as most of you know, I love, love, love scrapbooking and this is nice way for me to keep up on the journaling part of my scrapbooks. I have gotten very behind so when I scrapbook something that is—dare I say—from a year ago or sometimes even more, I have a hard time recalling exactly what I was thinking at the time or what I would have written back then. I can’t tell you how many times one of the kids has said or done something that I wanted to be sure to remember, and within a few days I couldn’t think of what it was. I’m hoping to be able to keep up with this blog, even if it’s only a few snippets every day or two, and then I will have more memories of our family recorded.

Another reason I wanted to start this was to keep everyone in the loop on our little Aron. Many of our friends and family are not fully aware of Aron’s condition, so we would like to “educate” everyone, so to speak. A lot happens with him in a relatively short amount of time, so by having this blog we will be able to update everyone on his progress. I have found some wonderful online support groups for parents who have a child with Aron’s genetic condition, and since we’re all sharing stories, it would be nice to be able to have Aron’s history down somewhere so we don’t have to recount it every time we meet someone new. To learn more about Aron, please visit his page on Paul’s Web site. http://paulgreenland.com/aron.aspx