Me and the boys

Major Breakthrough!

2009-12-16T20:13:00.005-05:00

I am still in disbelief...but oh so proud of my Wilson. Wilson shocked me during his Kindergarten holiday program. You wouldn't believe how many conversations we have had about his upcoming program- not wanting to sing in front of people, wanting to skip school on the program days, etc. Anyway onto the positive - he not only sang, stood on the risers and did the hand motions- he played Rudolph in the last song!!!!!!!! I was in disbelief. Wilson came down by himself during the Rudolph song wearing a blinking nose and antlers. He skipped around the entire crowd waving while they sang the song. Then he came up to the front with the music teacher to take a bow. My heart was so proud of him for being courageous enough to allow himself to do that and have so much fun at it. His friend Matthew was supposed to be Rudolph but went home sick today. Wilson asked his teacher if he could be Rudolph. She said yes (though she was very surprised too!). I still can't believe he did it! This afternoon at home he couldn't stop talking about it. He is so proud of himself - and rightfully so. People at school that know him and his struggles with anxiety were overjoyed for him too. His assistant was crying she was so proud of him. It was amazing. I'm so glad he has this positive experience to remid himself that he can get through his tough times. My friend Shawna was there with her nice camera and got some good pictures. I'll have to post them soon. Wilson has mentioned over and over that if Matthew is sick he will gladly play Rudolph again. Poor thing has had a fever this afternoon though so I don't know if he'll get to be in the program tomorrow or not.

*On a side note Wilson is no longer ok with being called Will. Whenever I accidentally call him Will he corrects me and tells me he wants to be called Wilson. Fine by me, I prefer Wilson. It's just that I often shorten it to Will so I need to break that habit!

T-Dub

2009-12-15T05:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we made the trek to CCH for a neurology appt. It was LONG. But uneventful! Yea! Tyler is developing as expected with no complications from his PWS. That is the news we want every time. We got there around 10am. Went to the dr room around 11am. Saw the doctor at 12:20pm. It took forever. FOREVER. Tyler was tired and hungry. There is only so much one can do to entertain in a tiny room for that long. Luke was with us too and he was such a trooper. I did venture out to find a snack machine and bought the boys some animal crackers eventually. The neurologist did spend about 20min with us asking questions and assessing etc. Ty also got his first round of H1N1 vaccine b/c they had it available and offered it to us. So at 1pm we were able to leave. Rushed out of there, drive thru at Wendy's, ate in the car, and made it back just in time to pick Wilson up from school! Best news: neurology doesn't want to see Ty for 1 year!

Tyler has also been cutting TWO teeth - one of the back molars and a tooth on the bottom left. Poor baby!

I am well and need to go get ready for work! I am so thankful to be healthy and able to go to work today. Plus, only 4 more days!!!

Flu Update

2009-12-11T16:35:00.002-05:00

I hate being sick and having to miss work. My job is stressful but I enjoy it. I don't mind missing one day here and there but multiple days in a row and I start to stress out. My team and Brenda are taking good care of my sub/subplans/class etc. - I am sure! But I missed two SAT meetings, an ARC on a new student, club meeting (in which we were planning our Christmas party for our buddies), Primary Celebration where the club was being introduced, 1 day of secret santa, and tonight I have to miss the staff Christmas party. I am so bummed. I haven't been to the staff x-mas party in 3 years I think. Sick this year. Last year had a 3 month old baby and didn't want to be away, and I think it was cancelled the year before that. To make matters worse I am unable to access my school email at home right now due to a problem with my router. So I am totally disconnected. I love having days off but not when that means I am home sick. I am not good at sitting around doing nothing for days on end when I have to. I long for days off to relax but when everything is still going on without you it is hard!

Same at home. This sure makes it seem like my priorities are out of whack but even with being sick I've seen the boys a lot. I haven't been taking care of them but I've been in the same room watching them play etc. I miss holding Tyler and snuggling with my boys. That is for sure. Andy is holding down the fort. I know he is exhausted. I'm hoping no one else gets this.

I've been fever free for 48 hours but my sore throat is so awful. I've never had a sore throat this bad (but I've never had strep either). I called the dr today and they said the sore throat is a symptom of the flu. So I'm taking Tamiflu, ibuprofen, mucinex, and cloriseptic throat spray as recommended by my doctor. Pretty drugged up. I bought some icecream today - spumoni. Was pretty excited. I ate some this afternoon and it was so good. Made me wish to go eat at the Spaghetti Factory! I'm trying not to pout all night and hoping to attend Saturday's Christmas party...and hosting one here Sunday night!

Ty's walking video!

2009-12-11T16:19:00.003-05:00

I Spy

2009-12-10T14:40:00.001-05:00

Luke and Wilson like to play I Spy. We use it to pass time in the car, doctor's office, etc. Luke cracks me up. Wilson and I say "I spy with my little eye...". Not Luke. He says - every time - "I spy with my BIG eye"!!!! It makes me smile every time. If he accidentally starts to say little he corrects himself to big. I think it is so cute! I guess he thinks it is better to have a big eye than a little eye!

Tyler is walking!

2009-12-10T14:37:00.003-05:00

Tyler is such a big boy - he is now walking around! He is wobbly and falls but he is doing well. I still can't believe it! He thinks he is big stuff. He is a climber too. He can climb on the coffee table in the basement. He loves to find one of Luke's stools and climb up on that. He is almost 15 months old. Starting to cut some teeth on the bottom. He's still holding at 6 teeth. I'll have to get a picture or video up soon. Yay Ty!

I have the flu.

2009-12-09T18:28:00.002-05:00

It's true. It is miserable. And it's the first year in all 9 of my teaching years that I haven't gotten a flu shot. I ALWAYS get a flu shot. The boys all have had their shot, thankfully. But somewhere in the middle of that I never got around to getting myself a flu shot. Andy NEVER gets a flu shot so really hoping he doesn't catch this from me.

Last night it hit me but I didn't know what it was. My whole body was aching. I went to bed early. Woke up at 11pm and took motrin because my right ear was aching. Still felt bad. My plans were mostly ready but my room was a mess after rushing out of school after a long meeting on Tuesday. Plus I knew it would be hard to send Wilson in without the usual routine. So I went. And felt terrible. It was painful to teach reading for 2 hours feeling bad. Then writing.

Left school (with things ready for Thursday) and went to the dr. They tested me for flu and strep (my throat is also very sore). Came in and told me I had the flu. I'm on Tamiflu. Dr. wants me out the rest of the week. Did I have time to get stuff ready for Friday? Of course not.

I'm bummed. I hope hope hope I am feeling better by Friday evening. I have 3 Christmas parties to attend this weekend. I've been looking forward to them. So here's hoping.

So this is my 500th post.

2009-12-06T16:44:00.002-05:00

Crazy! In honor of my 500th post I thought I'd post a link to my 100th post. I definitley won't try to write 500 things about myself!

Pepperoni Rolls

2009-12-06T16:40:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd already posted this on the blog but couldn't find it to link in the previous post. Last year I sat and watched Carol make her basic bread dough. I put measurements to her recipe. She just makes it from memory without any real measurements. I came home and typed it all up and gave myself an official 'recipe' for her bread dough. It has helped my bread dough to turn out just right!

Carol's Pepperoni Rolls
1 pkg instant yeast
1 cup warm water (not hot)
3 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 T shortening
1 egg
Butter, melted
Pepperoni cut into bite size pieces

Pour yeast into cup of warm water. Do not stir. Let sit 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add flour, sugar and salt to bowl. After the water/yeast mixture sits for 1-2 minutes stir and mix the yeast into the dry ingredients. Add shortening and egg. Mix with spoon. Then mix by hand, adding enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. You want the dough to be elastic. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled. About 1 hour.
Cut pepperoni into bite size pieces. After the dough has doubled, pull a golf ball sized amount of dough, and push several pepperoni bites inside ~ 4-6 pieces with your thumbs until it is completely covered with dough. Dip dough ball into melted butter and place on stone. Repeat. One recipe should make about 12 rolls. Let rolls rise again, about 30 minutes.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 400 until lightly browned. After taking out of oven coat tops with butter. I just hold a stick and rub it on the top. Enjoy!

Blogger Doesn't do well with math.

2009-12-06T16:28:00.004-05:00

So apparently I was a little ahead of the game. When I logged into blogger it said 500th post but my dear, sweet husband added up the posts from each year and informed me that I was NOT to 500 yet. :) So I think this is 498 or something. Almost there!

We've had a great weekend! Friday night Andy made homemade pizza- yum! We hung out around the house and after the boys went to bed watched The Holiday. Saturday I did some cleaning - I forgot to tell you I got a new vacuum! I now have the best vacuum I've ever owned. It works SO well. You wouldn't believe the amount of dirt and dust it gets each week. Crazy! I got it on Black Friday at Kohl'*s. For a really great deal. My dad let me spend part of our christmas money premature-ly since it was such a good deal. I have used it 3-4 times since just because I like it so much. Don't worry, that will wear off I'm sure! Every time I vacuum I show Andy the dirt inside and we're both amazed.

Back to Saturday...in addition to some cleaning we had the church christmas pageant rehearsal Saturday morning, then I ran some errands and did some Christmas shopping. I made pepperoni rolls and potato/broccoli/cheddar soup for dinner. Once the boys were in bed I wrapped presents while we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Not my favorite but it was still fun to watch! Tonight is the annual variety show and christmas pageant followed by the youth coffee house. Looking forward to the variety show acts!

Christmas Decorations!

2009-12-06T09:00:00.005-05:00

Check out some of our Christmas decorations - we've had so much fun figuring out where to put everything in our new house!

Here is the big family christmas tree down in the basement with all our ornaments.

Here is our first fire place and mantle! We were thrilled to hand our stockings! I also set out a lot of my snowman things across the top.

In our split foyer you look up and see this cut-out into the living room. I hated this when we bought the house and wanted to cut out the knee wall. Now I'm thinking that is way too much work! It will probably stay like this forever...so I made the best of it with more christmas decorations! Candles and figurines I haven't set out in years b/c of little fingers grabbing... :)

In our new house I set up 2 trees! A first for us! I've had the wish for a snowman tree for several years and always said when we move into a bigger house I was going to put all of my snowman ornaments on a tree. Here it is! I love it. This is an old tree we inherited and it works for now. I would love to have a taller skinny prelit tree eventually for this room.

Life is good...but sometimes hard.

2009-12-01T19:47:00.002-05:00

Why? Why do I let the little things get me down? I have a wonderful life and family. Some days it is more than I can take in - being a fulltime working mom with 23 students all day then coming home to take care of my family, house, and all the daily things in life. Tonight I told Andy I thought I was going crazy. TOO MUCH! Wilson is whining all the time. Licking his lips all the time. He has a ring of red around his mouth everyday. I can't be there to apply aquaphor all the time. He has been struggling to walk to his class but once he is there and I am gone - he is fine. On the way to school today we had to talk about what happens if the school burns down. His worries and anxieties are pushing me over the edge. It feels like it has gotten so much worse lately. Sometimes I just want to scream instead of explain, forewarn, promise it will all be okay AGAIN. Today at school I cried. I worry about him. I usually can set his worries aside and don't let them get to me but today I couldn't. I don't want him to deal with this forever. He has his second appt with the play therapist tomorrow.

Then I opened the letter from CCH about Tyler's last hemangioma/dermatology appointment 5 months ago. Reading the dr reports just throw the whole "capillary malformation" back in my face. They make it sound so real. The reports are good but all the "no complications at this time" etc just make my mind wonder what if... I have been doing so well with just trusting God, that he is in control. I need to give it over to God again and not worry about the silly dr report we got in the mail. The doctor's at CCH are so nice and thorough. I appreciate the reports, it just makes me realize how serious his port wine stain is - because of what it could become.

Just a hard day as a momma. I know it will all work out okay.

Pitiful

2009-11-30T21:34:00.002-05:00

I took Luke and Tyler to the doctor this evening. Luke had an ear infection. Tyler has a double ear infection and bronchitis. Poor boys. Ty had just finished an antibiotic last Monday. Hopefully they'll start feeling better in a couple of days. The doctor told me to percuss? Ty's back (that may totally be the wrong word...) 3 times a day for 3 minutes each time. It's cupping your hand and patting him on the back to loosen the junk in his chest. I tried tonight. Lasted about 20-30 seconds...how are you supposed to get a 14 month old to sit still and thump on their back for 3 minutes?

Pomegranate Punch

2009-11-29T08:56:00.002-05:00

Pomegranate-Champagne Punch

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup pear nectar
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1 bottle (750ml) champagne (I used Cook's since it was going in a punch)

Mix first 3 ingredients. Slowly add champagne. Serve over ice.

Click title for picture. Yum!!

Thankful Post

2009-11-29T08:46:00.002-05:00

I have so much to be thankful for in life. I know I'm a few days late but I still want to take the time to share what I am thankful for...
* My husband who loves me and can fix EVERYTHING!
* Wilson- my hard worker and helper who is learning so much!
* Luke- my sweet tender hearted boy who has a great sense of humor!
* Ty- so sweet and I LOVE to kiss those soft, full cheeks!
* My mom, dad, sister, Maw-maw, Paw-paw, Carol, Dan, SIL's, BIL's, nieces, nephews, and all the extended family we have!
* Living close to a big part of our extended family. We won't give that up.
* A job so we can pay the bills!
* Our house- we have enough room to spread out and even have people over now!
* 2 cars that run! We're very thankful for our van!
* Andy's part time youth pastor job that allows him to stay home with our boys
* getting to take Wilson to the school where I teach!
* my small group
* our church
* the unconditional love that I don't deserve from my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ
...and SOO many more!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T08:34:00.004-05:00

This has been such a wonderful Thanksgiving! We stayed home for the first time in 10 or more years. It was nice to have the boys in their own rooms for sleeping. It is hard to have 5 people in one bedroom! We spend Thanksgiving with Andy's family and even though we were home we were still together which was nice! Wednesday night all 20 people came here. I made a big pot of chili, pumpkin dessert, and pomegranate punch (recipe to come). Everyone else contributed paper products, hot dogs for the kids, fruit/veggies, and drinks. It was a nice evening. The cousins had a blast of course (9 kids). On Thursday we got together for our Thanksgiving lunch at our church. It just made it easier to have more room for so many people. We brought our food already cooked to the church and hung out downstairs while the turkeys heated up. The cousins had drawn names so they got to open their gift from each other while Ethan, Finley, and Rori were in town. Thursday night was girls night and we all went to see New Moon. I loved it. Great movie. Team Edward for me...though I like Jacob better after seeing the movie. He is good for Bella! On Friday we met up for lunch at Cheddar's and then Friday night was boys night. They hung out at a friend's house and watched the WV game. The girls and kiddos got together at my house for pizza and makeovers. The kids were playing and all the girls did Mary Kay makeovers. It was fun! Now the Florida family is gone...time to get back to the usual routine. It was a GREAT Thanksgiving holiday! Today we are decorating for Christmas after church!

Good News!

2009-11-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

No termites!

Updates from the last post!

2009-11-19T19:53:00.002-05:00

Luke's head is healing. The bump is gone but the bruise looks awful. I'm trying not to be paranoid of him falling again but it's hard!

Tyler's appointment at CCH went very well. No ophthalmology concerns! ie: no glaucoma! Next appointment is in about a month for neurology.

Wilson is struggling again with walking to his class. He is licking his lips until his skin is raw. How many times a day can andy or I tell him to put chapstick on? Tonight I'm getting aquaphor to try b/c the vaseline at night isn't cutting it.

Termite inspection didn't happen on Wednesday, it is now scheduled for tomorrow morning.

I've got to go Shred!

Luke's Fall

2009-11-16T20:13:00.003-05:00

Yesterday after church we were standing outside. Andy and I were talking and the kids were running around with their cousins. There were a lot of people hanging around talking. We were getting ready to go and had called the boys to come. Wilson runs by, then Luke. Next thing I know I watch Luke trip and fall. He fell face first into the concrete. He did not catch his fall at all other than with his forehead. The sound of the head hitting the concrete was horrible - I could feel the thud. I dropped what I was holding and grabbed him up. There was already a huge knot on his head, turning blueish/purple. I froze. Andy grabbed him from me to get ice on his head and I just stood there holding Ty. I guess Andy handed me Ty when he took Luke from me...I have no idea. Thankfully, my friend Heather asked me if she could take Ty so I could go check on Luke and I snapped to it and ran in to check on him. I think I was panicking and in shock that it looked so horrible immediately. I ran in and Andy had ice on it and he was sobbing. We sat down and Nellie, a woman at our church who is also a nurse checked him out. I was crying at this point because my baby boy was hurting and it looked so awful. I just hurt for him. I hated that it happened. After ten minutes or so we walked outside. I called the after hours clinic for our Doctor's office and they talked to me about signs for concussion and what to do in 2 hours, 4 hours, and the next two nights. Then Luke had a big cup of icecream from McDon*ald's for lunch. He was pitiful. We couldn't give him any tylenol because we were watching for the pain to go away, dr's orders. We were supposed to keep a very close eye on him for 2 hours. Then last night and tonight we are to wake him every 4 hours to check that he can talk and walk. It was so scary. I am so thankful that he is ok.

Last week Wilson got tubes. Yesterday Luke had a bad fall. Tomorrow Tyler goes to CCH for an eye appointment. Today Andy told me he thinks we might have termites. We have an appointment on Wednesday. What else? I can't take any more!

The First Appointment

2009-11-12T20:55:00.002-05:00

Today Wilson had his first appointment with the play therapist. I told him about it as we were literally running out of school to the car. I didn't want him to stress about it beforehand. He handled it well and I explained why we were going, that she was going to be his friend, someone with whom he could talk about his worries. When we got there he was nervous but I was right there with him. We sat down while he met J and then she gave him a tour of her office and playroom. He was excited about the playroom. Then she asked him if I could wait down stairs on the couch while they played and talked. He was hesitant but agreed to it and did so well! I could hear faintly some of the things they talked about. He was open and willing to talk! I was so proud of him.
- They made a bag of his worries. I was really straining to hear these- good thing b/c I learned about some new ones he hadn't shared. My heart was breaking listening to these. I'm glad I strained to hear because when we left and were talking, he didn't repeat them to me.
- They are referring to his worry as a dragon- his fear feeds the dragon and she is teaching him that he shouldn't feed the dragon.
- He got to play in some sand while they talked.
- They practiced a breathing exercise he is supposed to do when he feels the worry coming over him (breathe in 5, hold 5, breathe out 5).
- He said he comes to him mommy for help when he is worrying. And he does. Though some of his worries I had no idea about. I hate that he carries this around inside of him. She said it was really good that he has a coping strategy already of coming to me for help. I am SO thankful for J and how willing Wilson was about talking to her. This could be a great thing!

Wilson has tubes!

2009-11-10T20:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Wilson did so well getting his tubes. I am so thankful that they are in - now he'll be able to hear better! He did such a good job at the Surgery Center. I think he wanted tubes badly enough (so that he could hear) that he didn't whine about it too much beforehand. The night before he realized getting tubes gave him an extra day off so he was okay with it!! The morning of he was hungry and upset about not being able to eat. Once we got there I could tell he was nervous but he held it together. I was so proud of him! We had explained how everything would work and the nurses there were very kind to him. When it was time for him to walk back without us he was definitely nervous and did not want us to leave him - but we had to. I hated not being able to stay with him until he was asleep but I made myself walk away and told him I loved him and he could do it! He held the male nurse's hand and walked with him. He didn't want to ride on the rolling bed! Then Andy and I turned the corner and sneakily watched him walk all the way down the hall like a big, brave boy! I was so proud of him because I know that it was hard for him to do. About 15-20 minutes later he was done and starting to wake up. He got a purple popsicle. Then we took him to Pan*era, his breakfast choice so he could get a pumpkin muffin. He ate the WHOLE thing! Usually he just gets a muffie...so this was pretty special!!

2009-11-07T21:41:00.002-05:00

Wilson is getting tubes on Monday. He is doing very well at school. He enjoys school and his friends. He is doing well on all of his weekly sight word tests and has gotten 100% on each of his spelling tests so far. I'm so proud of him! Academically and socially he is making a lot of progress. He had a great first report card. I'm so thankful he is having a great first experience with school...but I knew he would because I got to pick his teacher! Thanks Mrs. Dowd!

Luke had a nightmare about worms being in his bed a couple nights ago. I went in there and he adamantly told me there were worms in his bed!!! I had to calm him down and tell him there were no worms in his soft cozy, bed. A few weeks before that he fell out of bed one night. I heard him crying and went in there. Felt around and his bed was empty. I just sat there confused for a few seconds and then I heard "I'm under here!". He had fallen out of bed and somehow ended up underneath his bed! I laughed out loud in the middle of the night!

Tyler has 6 teeth. He points at everything. He is crusing around but not walking and eating everything in sight! He loves watching his big brothers and being around them. He also likes looking out the window of his room to see what is going on. He still loves his swing outside too.

The big boys got two new pairs of shoes each today. Wilson's foot had grown a whole size!

I got some me time today and went to Kohl's and Wal*mart. I bought a pair of flat black shoes I really like and ...30 Day Shred. It about killed me tonight. My muscles were like jello for a while. I know I will be sore tomorrow. I haven't run in a long time. I hate to run at night in the dark and it gets dark so early. Hoping I can do 30 days...in a row - or as close to in a row as possible.

Happy Birthday to Andy!

2009-11-07T21:33:00.002-05:00

A couple days late, but we've been busy! Happy 31st birthday sweetie! Andy's birthday was on Thursday. He had a nice day. We celebrated at his favorite restaurant, O'Char*ley's with his side of the family. I made him his dessert of choice, Mountain Mama Mudslide, and the boys and I gave him his gift. He wants to go on a backpacking trip to Colorado so we're going to make it happen! We also got him a couple of "stuff bags" for back packing...I think that is what they are called.

Last night Andy and I went on a date. We went out for dinner - just the two of us - and then to see David Crowder in concert!!! The concert was more for me cause I wanted to go really badly but it was nice to have a date night together! Andy enjoyed the concert as well and we met Cara and Jason at the concert and sat together. Fun times! Crowder band was awesome in concert. He had me laughing at the things he talked about between songs. He was so down to earth and real. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Couldn't tell you how many years it has been since I've been to a concert.

Andy rented a movie of his choice for tonight, he's watching GI J*oe. I'm going to read! I think he's had a good birthday! (picture to come of Andy in his Snu*ggie as soon as I can get him to put it on...he got one from his uncle for his birthday and I just can't wait to see him use it! Don't know if he ever will!!)

Chicken Stir-Fry

2009-11-03T21:29:00.004-05:00

YUM. Dinner tonight was delicious! I've tried so many stir fry recipes and this is the winner! It is from Pioneer Woman, I just changed some of the veggies to suit our taste. We used broccoli, carrots, green onions, red pepper, baby corn, and water chesnuts. I left out the cilantro. I love cilantro but didn't use it in stir fry. The rest of the recipe I followed as stated on her blog. Here is the recipe.

Halloween Pics

2009-11-01T20:31:00.003-05:00

Luke's pumpkin

Wilson's pumpkin

Ty-ger!

The boys had a great time trick or treating last night as Spiderman and Optimus Prime. We went around our court and then down part of my grandparents street. Our area was kind of dead! We definitely don't need to buy much candy for trick or treaters. On Thursday, Luke had his first preschool party. He sang the songs, participated in the costume parade, and played the games. SO different from when Wilson had parties at preschool. He wouldn't sing any of the songs and HATED the costume parade! They are so different. Tyler was along for the ride as a tiger.