Sunday, June 26, 2011
Beach Vacation
We spent last week at the beach. We love it there!!!! I didn't want to come home :( The kids had a blast on the beach and boardwalk each day. I had way too many Kohr Bros. ice cream cones :) I'm too tired right now to write a lot, so I'll just leave with pictures... (Please note the smiles I got from Grace with some actually looking at the camera. Miracles do happen!)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Our Olympian
We are on a trophy roll at our house!!! The fifth grade participates in the Math Olympiad at school. Nate won first place! He was very happy, since this is his first real trophy! Can you tell by the picture???
Monday, June 13, 2011
Nate Graduates!
I can't believe my baby is leaving elementary school and moving on to middle school :( They had a nice celebration at school today. All the fifth graders got to share their favorite memory. Then they received their certificate while the orchestra played Pomp and Circumstance. I'm sure their favorite part of today is going to be when they get their yearbooks!!!!! Tomorrow they all get t-shirts that they get to sign for each other. The school does a nice job at making this transition special :) Even with all the hoopla, I hate that he is growing up so fast :( I'm comforted though by the fact that Nate is such a good kid!
We are so proud of you, Nate!!!
We are so proud of you, Nate!!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Woo Hoo for Aidan!!!
Aidan had closing ceremonies for baseball today. They call all the teams out on the field and give awards. I'm so bummed I wasn't there, because Aidan won the "Sportsmanship" award for his team!!!! He was beaming when he came home!! They only give out 2 trophies per team, so Aidan felt even more special. He has never won a trophy before, so he can't stop smiling!!!!
We are so proud of your hard work and positive attitude, Aidan!!!!
We are so proud of your hard work and positive attitude, Aidan!!!!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Nate Turns 11
HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY, NATE!!! Stop getting so old!!!!
No one looking happy :)
My 3 kiddos and Emily
Aunt Denise and the birthday boy
My babes :) Absolutely impossible to get all of them looking at the camera!
No one looking happy :)
My 3 kiddos and Emily
Aunt Denise and the birthday boy
My babes :) Absolutely impossible to get all of them looking at the camera!
Grace Update
I have found it very difficult to blog lately. I still love reading everyone else's blogs, but can't seem to find the energy or time to post on my own blog. But here I go.....
So much has happened the past several months with Grace and I have been hesitant to share it with the world. She is doing so great on so many levels, but we still have our worries and struggles.
I mentioned a while back that I asked her OT if she thought Grace was on the autism spectrum. I got an "I don't think so". There were a lot of small things that Grace did that concerned me. Most of those have gone away or gotten so much better. (not answering to her name majority of the time, licking everything, poor eye contact up close at times, etc)
My concerns were going away a little each and every day as her speech picked up and she just seemed more "with it". Then her OT thought we should have her evaluated just in case. It takes 9-12 months to get an appt with the developmental pediatrician at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Phila), so I called Early Intervention in the mean time to get more opinions. Grace was evaluated by 2 specialists from EI and she qualified within 20 minutes for OT and Behavior Therapy for her "It's my way or the highway" attitude. Never knew there was therapy for that! Shhh.... don't tell my hubby!
Since then, through a wonderful woman at the IA clinic at CHOP that we used, Grace got an appt with the Regional Autism Center in July. I pray that this issue gets put to bed and we can stop worrying about it. Grace's pediatrician, new EI OT and Behaviorist all feel like she is ok, but I have heard "possible aspergers" or "maybe PDD". Grace can be very social at times and quite charming. But she can also be very rude and nasty if she is uncomfortable or anxious. If she is pressured to be friendly or interact with a new adult, she may hit or throw toys. She is NOT this way with other children. She will be very loving towards them. She doesn't do this anymore, but a few months ago when we would go out in public, if someone spoke to me, Grace would start hitting me with windmill arms. So frustrating!!! She appeared angry or anxious, I couldn't tell which. Thankfully that hasn't happened in a while.
Right now we are doing OT once a week and behavior therapy once a week. I am at the point where I don't feel like I need an OT because I feel like I can do it on my own now. I know what to do and I do it every day with her. The behavior therapy is not going very far. Grace isn't always difficult, but she likes to do what she wants. We just thought she was strong willed :) The behaviorist better start giving me strategies to do at home or I'm moving on. Our IA doctor has recommended a behaviorist that works with lots of IA kids, but she doesn't take insurance and is 45 minutes away.
Her follow up IA appt went well. She is doing great cognitively, which we already knew :) She is a smarty pants! They agreed that she needs behavior therapy since she is very resistant and it can be difficult to get her to "give in". It's difficult for me to hear that one of my kids needs therapy for bad behavior. I kind of take it personally. Our boys are not perfect, but are really good kids. I know part of that (not all of it) is due to our parenting. We got some things right :) The general feel of the appt was that she is doing great but there are definite social and behavioral issues.
Because I don't just want to post not-so-great stuff, here is a run down of all the amazing things Grace does:
Has FINALLY started calling me "Mommy" in the sweetest voice ever! The transition went from Ma to Mama to Mom to Mommy!
She comes up to all of us and says, "hugga hugga" as she wraps her arms around us. Love it!!!!!!
Loves to wear dresses!
Has started to put words together: "lick Mama sock", "Dada read book". There are slight pauses in between, but it counts in my book.
Is becoming bilingual from watching Dora. She has answered "si" a few times!!! Maybe a little less Dora wouldn't be a bad thing :)
Wakes up in the best mood! Asking for each of us each day!
Will at times walk around and say "happy, happy , happy".
Makes her mama dinosaur and baby dinosaur kiss!
Always points out the daddy and mommy animals. I love that because it shows me she understands about a dad and mom!
Will lay on the floor when she doesn't get her way and say "crying" in sad voice! It's hysterical!!!!
I'll have the to ask Brad and boys for more stuff since I know I'm not remembering it all right now :)
Pictures to come very soon!!!!
So much has happened the past several months with Grace and I have been hesitant to share it with the world. She is doing so great on so many levels, but we still have our worries and struggles.
I mentioned a while back that I asked her OT if she thought Grace was on the autism spectrum. I got an "I don't think so". There were a lot of small things that Grace did that concerned me. Most of those have gone away or gotten so much better. (not answering to her name majority of the time, licking everything, poor eye contact up close at times, etc)
My concerns were going away a little each and every day as her speech picked up and she just seemed more "with it". Then her OT thought we should have her evaluated just in case. It takes 9-12 months to get an appt with the developmental pediatrician at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Phila), so I called Early Intervention in the mean time to get more opinions. Grace was evaluated by 2 specialists from EI and she qualified within 20 minutes for OT and Behavior Therapy for her "It's my way or the highway" attitude. Never knew there was therapy for that! Shhh.... don't tell my hubby!
Since then, through a wonderful woman at the IA clinic at CHOP that we used, Grace got an appt with the Regional Autism Center in July. I pray that this issue gets put to bed and we can stop worrying about it. Grace's pediatrician, new EI OT and Behaviorist all feel like she is ok, but I have heard "possible aspergers" or "maybe PDD". Grace can be very social at times and quite charming. But she can also be very rude and nasty if she is uncomfortable or anxious. If she is pressured to be friendly or interact with a new adult, she may hit or throw toys. She is NOT this way with other children. She will be very loving towards them. She doesn't do this anymore, but a few months ago when we would go out in public, if someone spoke to me, Grace would start hitting me with windmill arms. So frustrating!!! She appeared angry or anxious, I couldn't tell which. Thankfully that hasn't happened in a while.
Right now we are doing OT once a week and behavior therapy once a week. I am at the point where I don't feel like I need an OT because I feel like I can do it on my own now. I know what to do and I do it every day with her. The behavior therapy is not going very far. Grace isn't always difficult, but she likes to do what she wants. We just thought she was strong willed :) The behaviorist better start giving me strategies to do at home or I'm moving on. Our IA doctor has recommended a behaviorist that works with lots of IA kids, but she doesn't take insurance and is 45 minutes away.
Her follow up IA appt went well. She is doing great cognitively, which we already knew :) She is a smarty pants! They agreed that she needs behavior therapy since she is very resistant and it can be difficult to get her to "give in". It's difficult for me to hear that one of my kids needs therapy for bad behavior. I kind of take it personally. Our boys are not perfect, but are really good kids. I know part of that (not all of it) is due to our parenting. We got some things right :) The general feel of the appt was that she is doing great but there are definite social and behavioral issues.
Because I don't just want to post not-so-great stuff, here is a run down of all the amazing things Grace does:
Has FINALLY started calling me "Mommy" in the sweetest voice ever! The transition went from Ma to Mama to Mom to Mommy!
She comes up to all of us and says, "hugga hugga" as she wraps her arms around us. Love it!!!!!!
Loves to wear dresses!
Has started to put words together: "lick Mama sock", "Dada read book". There are slight pauses in between, but it counts in my book.
Is becoming bilingual from watching Dora. She has answered "si" a few times!!! Maybe a little less Dora wouldn't be a bad thing :)
Wakes up in the best mood! Asking for each of us each day!
Will at times walk around and say "happy, happy , happy".
Makes her mama dinosaur and baby dinosaur kiss!
Always points out the daddy and mommy animals. I love that because it shows me she understands about a dad and mom!
Will lay on the floor when she doesn't get her way and say "crying" in sad voice! It's hysterical!!!!
I'll have the to ask Brad and boys for more stuff since I know I'm not remembering it all right now :)
Pictures to come very soon!!!!
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