Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Baby #3 (aka Owl Baby)

It's official, I am pregnant with our 3rd child and am due July 15th! We are yet again not finding the gender until Baby is born. I must say this time I am battling wanting to find out at the ultrasound, but I do love the complete joy I feel when I meet Baby for the first time.

Anyways, so far Baby is measuring right on track with my due date. The first time we heard Baby's heart was at my 12wk appointment and the BPM were 170. This time (at 16wks) it was 160 bpm.
When I was 13wks pregnant I had a follow-up renal ultrasound. The ultrasound tech I had was amazing. During my post-void bladder measurement my baby "accidentally" jumped on to the screen! It was so good to see Baby. (Even if it was "unofficial" and I didn't get a picture.)
I must say this is the first time I haven't had an early ultrasound, but according to my midwife it is a good thing. As it means I don't have a history of miscarriage or placenta issues, etc. I was just spoiled with the boys and got to see them early. :)

As far as pregnancy symptoms, I am still nauseous A LOT and am exhausted all the time! And you wanna talk about sensitivity to smells, oh my gosh. Smells are everywhere and they generally make me nauseated. I miss the days I enjoyed baking and *gasp* doing the dishes.
I have felt early movements and it helps remind me everything is fine. :)

I wish I had a picture to include, but I don't. Next time I write about baby I will!

CJ*

CJ is doing great! He started speech therapy at Rite Care last week as he is a couple months behind with his vocab and sounds. He LOVES his SLP and really enjoys the attention from her. She suspects he will catch up really fast! We just decided to get him therapy sooner than later, so he won't experience as much frustration from lack of communication as Will did. Aside from that he is on track!!!

I can't believe he will be TWO in about two weeks!! How did time go by so fast?!
He loves going pee on the potty, but still has a baby bladder. So, I'm still working on that. (I'd love to have CJ only wearing his pull-ups at night by the time the baby comes.)
He is such a goof and imitates my tone and mannerisms when I talk to other people. It can be really funny. We are really enjoying watching him grow up and turn into a little, big boy from a baby.





Will :)

I can't believe yet again it has been over a month since my last post! UGH!

So, I'm going to be doing individual posts. :)

Will is doing great in school! He knows all of his ABC's and is counting up a storm! His speech is improving greatly, sometimes a little too much... he is becoming quite bossy and talking back. A lot of the time you can laugh it off, but other times it can be mean.

Otherwise, I enjoy him so much!! He is the biggest helper and sweetest boy. He is also, so funny! Some of the things that come out of his mouth make it REALLY hard to correct him and not laugh.
For example:
[In his speech therapy one of the many things we're working on is his "Fr" words and sounds.]

So, last weekend when we were walking out to our car Will paused, pointed and was getting really excited about something in the car. He bouncing up and down, grinning ear-to-ear saying, "F*** in car! F*** in car! F*** in car!". I was shocked and kept thinking I heard wrong, but no. So, I looked at him and told him that was a bad adult word and asked him to SHOW me what he meant. (He was talking so patiently slow he was practically spelling out the word by this point.) He gladly showed me! It was our FROG on the dashboard! He was so happy we put Squiggy the Frog in our new car. I was so relieved and then about died laughing! (Will was laughing at ME, saying I was being so silly!)


Friday, December 21, 2012

Merry Christmas :)

 




Student Of the Week!!!!

The 2nd week of December Will was Student of the Week!! We are so proud of him and all of the accomplishments he's achieved.
He was honored at school with an assembly and had his picture taken for the school newsletter. He was so excited to tell me when he got home that day!



Monday, November 12, 2012

Fall fun :)

I'm a bit behind as my week days fly by!
Anyways, the boys had a great Halloween! This was the first year Will was able to say- happy halloween, trick or treat, and thank you. And he was understood by all! I was so happy for him and freakin' proud of him! He has come so far in such a short amount of time.

We also, went to a pumpkin patch in mid-October. The boys loved it! CJ wanted to run everywhere and explore. While Will found his pumpkin immediately and was ready to go. James and I really enjoyed the whole experience with both of them. On the drive up to Green Bluff we decided who was pairing up with which kid. Before we could even decide Will "informed" me that I was with CJ and he was going with daddy. It was funny and cute.

Otherwise, we're all doing good. Busier then we'd like, but it will pay off in the long run and won't last forever. Will is doing amazing in his therapies! He is blowing everyone away with how well he is doing. His therapists are constantly giving me praise for his progress and telling me that I'm doing a fabulous job. Honestly, as much as I appreciate the praise and know I deserve it, I generally have a hard time accepting it. All I do is love my boys and take care of them. I don't do it because I have to, but rather because I want to and love to!
Being told I'm doing a good job is GREAT, but for me seeing my son thriving and loving life is all the praise I need. I just love watching the world unfold for Will and hearing him tell me about it! I am excited for his future and all the possibilities that are there for him.

As for Mr. Chester, he is into EVERYTHING and will climb on top of EVERYTHING if given literally (and I kid you not) a second. He is starting to "talk" more each day. So far he can say- what, hi, bye, dog, Dad, Mom, Wah (Will), Nigh Nigh, Ov ooo (love you), done, more, no, yes/yeah, and a few others (my mind is wilting). However, I'll probably end up getting him evaluated by Will's SLP after he turns two, just to make sure he'd on track or IF he might need some therapy. (If he does I really want to get him in sooner, so he has less frustration issues stemmed from lack of communication.)
Aside from that he's doing good. I personally, wish his 2 teeth would just come in already as they've been torturing us... err I mean him for the last month!









Wednesday, October 10, 2012

My big Kindergartner


Its official- Will is in Kindergarten!!!! He is doing wonderful in his class and loves his teacher (and para). I absolutely love seeing all of his arts and crafts that he makes! Every day when we get home from our walk, he whips open his back pack and proudly shows me each piece of paper. I just love it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Fall photo shoot ;)










Fall into changes

I can't believe it's FALL already!! I definitely miss my year round summer when we were in Guam.

Well, a lot has changed since I last wrote...

Will is officially in Kindergarten!! Boy did that come with quite a few emotions. That being said, I am very happy for him! He is in a small class that will never have more than 12 kids (ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade) and always has at least 3 adults. Great ratio and it really fits Will's needs. He is one of 5 kindergartners in his class of 10 kids. His teacher is great and his personal para (or TA) is very sweet and really works well with him.
Aside from school, he is going to speech therapy twice a week and behavioral therapy once a week. Combine that with other appointments and it makes my life during the week revolve around Will. As hectic and non-stop as it might be, I wouldn't have it any other way!! It is helping Will succeed and listening to him talk to me and watching him interact appropriately makes it more than worth it.
Also, after a year of being on a waiting list, Will finally saw the top developmental pediatric specialist in the Inland Northwest and she has completely ruled out Autism!! (I about jumped out of my skin I was so thrilled when she told me.) However, Will does have some kind of mood and anxiety disorder. So, in the coming months he has a lot of tests to complete for the doctor and her colleagues (who all have PhD's) to determine what the best course of treatment will be to help him succeed in school and life.
I am so happy with his speech therapist, behavioral therapist, school teachers (to include another speech therapist and an occupational therapist) and doctors he has working with him! I really love how each one of them wants to connect with everyone else on his team. It is really wonderful.

Another BIG change is James and I are officially legally married again. Some of you might be confused by that, so I'll elaborate a little. Back in June I filed for divorce (for reasons I don't care to share with the general public). I did not want to (you can ask anyone who knew what was going on), but I never want to someone I love to feel trapped or forced to stay with me. So, half way through the divorce James told me he had a change of heart and that he realized what was really important in life (me and the boys). He has shocked a lot of people- to include me. However, something changed in him. Now he is a fabulous dad and the guy I fell in love with 6 years ago. We work as a team when parenting instead of enemies and he understands/accepts Will for Will! It is truly the best blessing.

One last thing for tonight, I will be undergoing a lot of procedures and tests in hopes of getting an answer as to what causes my random crippling abdominal pain. I'm really hoping by the end of next week to have some answers. I'm not going to ask God to cure my pain, but rather help the doctors figure out what's going on. That's all I pray for is an answer.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The glass is half full

With the year already half over and life is on the usual fast pace, I'm looking at life with my kids as "glass 1/2 full".
Will finished up preschool the first week of June and will pick back up in the fall. Its hard to believe he'll be FIVE in 1 1/2 months! Where did the time go?!

CJ is doing great! He has a great sense of humor and is such a cuddle bug. His new favorite thing is hugging the dogs and people he loves. Its pretty cute. :)

I'm doing alright... hoping to get answers about my health in the coming month, but we'll see.













Otherwise, we are doing good. :)