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September 28, 2007
What is this. I am writing another post. Does this mean I am bored or do I just have time on my hands. The truth is neither. I have a million things to do with going through all the Halloween decorations my neighbor so graciously gave to me. When she offered me these decorations she failed to mention that there were three large Tupperware containers and four huge bags of decorations that she would be bringing over. My living room looks like Halloween just threw up in there. We have spent most of the day sorting and decorating. The kids are hyped up and do not want to go to bed. I am hiding down here in the basement so I don't have to listen to them complain about having to go to bed already and I also want to avoid looking at the mess. I am hoping that Greg will just clean it all up, but I know that is wishful thinking.
Lately I really have been to reading. Some of my favorite books to read are by Jane Austen. In my neighborhood there are several Jane Austen fans. I know men probably don't really get the whole Jane Austen thing, but all one of my friends has to say is Collin Firth playing Mr. Darcy and we are all on the same page. I stumbled across this quiz the other day I thought it was fun to take. As you can see I am Elinor Dashwood. Who are you?
September 28, 2007
It has been three weeks since we started Early Intervention and I amazed to say we actually see a slight improvement with Eliza. Besides having a speech therapist come to your house twice a month we also go to a toddler class that is a lot like preschool, a music class and other activities. For the toddler class the kids play then have singing time then play again, do a craft then play once again and then have a snack. In this class we are always working on saying small words and using sign. For example the first week we had root beer floats. The teacher had each child say pop in order to receive some root beer. Before it even got to Eliza she was saying pop. Forrest got very excited that she had finally said a word. Our Music class is lots of fun. Eliza loves it. She did a great job of paying attention and trying to do all the actions. Some the other fun activities have been a carnival, which we received another goldfish which was promptly placed in the back pond and is amazingly still alive. We also went on a field trip yesterday to feed some ducks and visit a dairy farm. Eliza was of course in seventh heaven because she loves animals.
I think the calves were her favorite. We spent about 15 minutes here just letting her pet the calves over and over again. 
Eliza insisted on petting the horse several times. She only would get scared if the horse swung his head at her.
The funny thing about the whole field trip was that I tried very hard to keep the kids from stepping in anything that was not dirt. When we got home and I checked everyones shoes and mine were the only ones with cow manure on them. I guess I should have worried a little more about myself.
September 28, 2007
Yesterday I found Eliza playing with Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl. It took awhile for me to figure out what she was doing, but I finally did. She was having them kiss. She would bring their little faces together and then make a kissing sound. When I told Greg he just laughed I don't think it has set in yet that we could have a little love bird on our hands.
September 25, 2007
Forrest is getting really excited for Christmas. Dang those stores that are already putting out all their Christmas items. As we are driving in the car Forrest will ask me about Santa and how he gets the toys to us, how many toys will he bring, etc. Yesterday as we were driving to school Forrest asked me if Santa brought so many presents that it filled the entire house what would we do. I told him if Santa brings that many toys we would just have to give them all away. This seemed to give him pause , but he soon came back asking just how many presents Santa could bring us before we would have to give some of them away. That kid is always thinking.
September 19, 2007
I know, I know I can hear all of you groaning already, but I thought I would pass along something that really helps me out around the holidays. At the end of September first of October I pull out my Holiday binder and start to review it. What is a holiday binder you ask. Well it is a nifty little thing that I use every year to try and keep my holidays going a little more smoothly. My binder is divided into several different categories. The first is the calender. This is where I keep track of all the things that are going on. I also pencil in things that I would like to do as a family like see the Christmas lights, or make cookies for Santa. My next section is preparations. In this section I keep track of things that I need to get for the holidays. Any food I need to bring for family events. I also list all our traditions that we do throughout the holidays. At the end of the holiday season I go over them with Greg and we decide what we liked or didn't like and what we want to do the next year. I also have a page that I keep track of all the types of batteries I will need for each toy. That way on Christmas morning we won't be scrambling around trying to find batteries to make all their toys make those really annoying sounds. The next section is Gifts. Each family member gets their own page. On each page I have a column for what to buy, how much to spend, where to buy it from, is it bought yet and is it wrapped with the receipt in the envelope contained at the back of the book. I also have pages for stocking stuffers and Friends and Family who I am buying for. Neighbor Gifts are also included in this section. I keep track of who I gave to last year and what I made last year. For example I made chocolate dipped pretzels. On this page I keep track of how much I spent, how many I had to make and if I had any leftovers. This is a real lifesaver when the next holiday season comes around. My next section is my Travel section. In this section I keep anything that has to do with snowmobiling or any trip I might be taking. I have my master packing list from the year before. I also include what meal I am to prepare with it amounts in this section. The Journal section is a real lifesaver. At the end of the year I review my budget, the decorations, how many presents the kids received, etc. It really is a letter to myself reminding me what I would like to do the next holiday season. It also keeps me from making the same mistake over and over again. My last section is my budget and Receipts. Every year I try to keep a very accurate account of how much I spend. The next year we look at the budget and try to decide if we need to cut something out or leave it as it is. I also include a large manila envelope. Every receipt is placed in this envelope. If a toy breaks or we need to return something I always know where I can find the receipt. I love using this binder and I have found that it helps our holiday season be more about the season and less about all the little details that can bog you down. And if any of the men actually read this entire post. I am really impressed. I figured you wouldn't have gotten past the first line.
September 17, 2007
Today we took Eliza in for a hearing test. When we had her tested for Early Intervention they were concerned because she didn't seem to hear certain sounds. We decided to have further testing done to be on the safe side. I was pretty sure that Eliza was just ignoring the nurse, but as the test drew closer I became more and more worried. As we were sitting in the booth a couple of times she didn't seam to hear some of the sounds. Once the testing was complete the Dr. started to ask me a lot of questions. The line of questioning combined with her not hearing some of the sounds started to make me think the worst. Once the doctor had satisfied his curiosity he pronounced that she was completely fine. I really couldn't believe it at first, but I was very relieved to know that she is not hard of hearing she is just stubborn.
September 14, 2007
Through our numerous interviews with Early Intervention I was asked repeatedly how Eliza communicated. They always seemed pretty stunned when I told them that she actually communicates very well. For example last night Eliza came up to me and grabbed my hand. Instead of leading me somewhere to retrieve an item she desired she kept pulling my hand down. I looked at her little upturned face and told her that I didn't understand. She then bent down and patted the floor. This was my cue to get down to her level. Once I was at eye level with her she leaned forward and gave me a kiss and then went on her merry little way. Perfect communication. There was no tears, screaming or yelling. I am a little scared for her to start talking because I know what happens next. There is a new expectation that I should understand everything she says and when I don't well let just say it won't be pretty. I also know that there will come a time when I won't be able to get her to stop talking and it will make me wish for the good old days when all we needed to communicate was a gentle tug on the hand followed by a very sweet little kiss.
September 12, 2007
On Sunday I was teaching Sharing Time when I heard Eliza crying. This is very unusual because Eliza likes nursery. I quickly wrapped up my Sharing Time and went out to find out what was going on. Apparently Eliza had pulled one of those big six foot long tables over on top of her and her leg got pinned underneath. Her leg started to swell and she got a bruise. I took her home and gave her some Ibuprofen. We tried to ice it but that just made her more upset. By the time Forrest and Greg got home she was running around. We assumed she was fine, but I called the doctor to ask what I should be watching for. She was encouraged that Eliza was running around. She said to watch if she started to limp or favor the leg or if she seemed to be in more pain. After Eliza woke up from her nap she started to limp. As the night progressed she was limping more and more, but she didn't seem to be in any pain. By this time our doctors office was close and we would need to take her into the ER. We decided that we would wait and see how she was doing on Monday. Monday morning she was still limping so I took her in. Our appointment was at 10:30. We didn't even see the doctor until 11:00. Dr. Stokes felt that she was probably okay, but with the limp we decided to get an x-ray just to be sure. We headed down to radiology and I realized there was now way I could get Forrest to school on time. I had to call Greg to come and get him. Even with us being next in line it still took us 20 minutes to get in. I got Eliza some Doritos and Apple juice to tied her over. When it was our turn the tech asked me if I was pregnant. I told her no and then asked what would they have done if I had been pregnant. She explained that I wouldn't be allowed in the room and Eliza would have to go in alone. That would have been horrible for poor Eliza. She was pretty hysterical with me having to hold her down. I can't imagine what it would have been like if complete strangers would have had to do it. The tech felt so bad she gave Eliza her another sucker. This was only the fourth one of the day. Combined with the Doritos and apple juice she was having a great lunch. By this time it was about 12:30. We headed back up to the doctors office and proceeded to wait. We were lucky enough that we had a great nurse who brought us in some more food and toys to play with. She also kept us updated on what was going on. Finally about 1:30 Eliza fell asleep. Dr. Stokes came in about 2:15 and told us the good news that her leg was not broken, however the table did bend the bone. The reading took so long because the radiologist was concerned about the slight bend in her bone. He finally determined that she would be fine. We were really lucky to get one of the best radiologist at the hospital. Dr. Stokes felt pretty confident that her contusion would heal with time. She still limps a little, but that should clear up in a day or two. Of course it hasn't slowed her down at all. Last night I caught her jumping off our bed.
September 5, 2007
Update: When the Speech Therapist left this morning Forrest was really excited. When I asked him why he was so excited he said because now Eliza could talk. I had to tell that it would unfortunately take a little longer.
Today on the way home from the library Forrest asked me how we can turn on a voice box so that it is a talking voice box. I tried to explain that we didn't need to turn it on. The job of the voice box was to talk or make sounds. Forrest said, "No I mean how do we turn Eliza's voice box on so that she can talk?" That is a very good question. If I knew the answer to that we would have turned it on a long time ago. Last week we took Eliza in to have her tested for Early Intervention. She meet the qualifications needed for us to be allowed into the program. We will now have a Speech Therapist come to our house twice a month to work with Eliza. Hopefully this will help turn on her voice box so Forrest can have someone else to talk to besides me.
September 4, 2007
Today started out as any other day would, except for today I had a mission. I was going to get out of the house by ten o-clock and take the kids to the Tree House. I ran around getting all my morning cleaning done. I sent Forrest upstairs to get ready for the day and then jumped into the shower. Things were going according to plan. I should have known it wouldn't last. Once I got out of the shower I went and checked in on Forrest. I noticed that he was wearing some pants that were way to short. I explained that these pants needed to be put away in storage and he could wear anyone of his new pants. He agreed and removed the too short pants. I then made the mistake of pulling out a new pair of pants for him to wear. This seem to send him into a tizzy. He wanted to wear the original pants. He didn't care what they looked like. By this time he was screaming and crying. I closed the door to block out the noise and continued to get ready. After about 20 minutes I checked in on him and explained that in ten minutes we would be going to the Tree House, if he was not ready then we would not go. Forrest pouted for a couple more minutes and then started to get dress. We had one more act of defiance when he came out of his room with his pants on backwards. He figured if he couldn't wear the original pair of pants he would wear his new pants backwards. I told him that wouldn't fly and he only had 5 more minutes to go. Miraculously he was ready in time. I packed all the kids into the car and we headed off. Forrest immediately started asking me about humans.
Forrest: Mom what if a human took a little kid and burned them up?
Me: Forrest that is a horrible thing to say.
Forrest: Mom what if a human sneaked into our house and took Eliza?
Me: That is why we keep the doors locked and mommy and daddy are always with you.
Forrest: What if you and daddy had to go somewhere and you couldn't get someone to stay with us and a human took us?
Me: We would never leave you alone.
Forrest: Mom why are humans so bad?
Me: Because they didn't have a mommy that loved them?
Needless to say the conversation was a little disturbing. I don't know if I have t.v. or Kindergarten to thank for this one.
Once we arrived to the Tree house I unloaded the kids and we headed in only to find out it was closed. Not only was it closed for the day, but for the entire month. They are cleaning and rearranging the exhibits. Does that really take a month? I was now stuck with two small children who really wanted to do something fun. I knew just going to the park wouldn't cut it so we headed over to the Union Station. We spent the better part of an hour and a half walking all over the place looking at trains and old cars. Unfortunately I was ill prepared and didn't have a stroller. I spent the most of the morning either carrying Eliza or chasing her down. The good thing about it was Forrest had a blast. He loved the Train museum and wants to go back tomorrow. Of course his first question when we got home was when would the Tree House be open so we could go to the Tree house and then off to the Train Museum.
September 3, 2007
Today is Labor Day and instead of going off and doing something fun we are working around the house. Greg is working on some projects on his honey-do list and I am watching the kids and thinking of more things I would like him to do. I would hate for Greg to run out of things to do. Labor Day also has me thinking about kids and teaching them how to work. A couple of months ago I stumbled across this article. Lara has written an eight part series on how she got her kids to work It really blew me away the simplicity of it all. I have made every type of chore chart or job jar out there and yet Forrest still didn't seem to be doing much around the house. The only consistent thing I have had success with was his task chart that I made to help him clean his room. After reading her series on Teaching Your Kids to work I started to implement some of her ideas. Forrest now helps around the house every single day. We have our daily struggles, but for the most part Forrest is happy to help out. If you have a moment I would highly recommend reading through her series. It has really helped me out with getting Forrest to help around the house and because of that my house is a lot cleaner now that I am not the only one doing the cleaning.
