Where Have I Been?

I feel the need to share a little. I’ve shied away from blogger. I do feel less stress to keep up with it. I’ve been enjoying being a mom. Audrey, as some may know, is in First Grade and way back in September she had her first day. I managed to get a couple of cute pics. She had a rough go, not wanting to be away from mom. But she managed to overcome her fears and is doing a lot better.

 

Soon after school started we went to Heritage Day at the local township. It was a short, fun filled day and the kids got to see some cool things. Nate really enjoyed the cars and loved the red Mustang! He’s just like his dad! Audrey enjoyed some cotton candy…a little too much. She had a pink beard!

Since I was having a good day, I felt overly generous and took the kids out for ice cream. Nate doesn’t like ice cream so he played on the playscape.

This is the slide that Nate would not go down.

This was the slide he would go down.

And this is his technique! On the belly feet first.

That’s all folks!♥

Family

I haven’t been on here in a while. After blogging for a year, I’m really burnt out. The excitement of doing something new has worn off. I have been thinking about my family lately. There has been a lot going on…

We made a decision to sell our car and am a proud owner of a mini van. Although I said I would never own one, I am liking it so far. Audrey is ecstatic about it. My SUV had limited seating and was not accessible for Nate. 

I also have made the decision to go back to school. It’s scary to think about going back, especially since I’ve already done it and said I would never go back. But things happen in life and your path leads you in another direction. A direction you thought wouldn’t happen. Hopefully, in 2 years I will be a nurse. After all, I practically feel like one after taking care of my kids. But this will give me something to do when the kids are in school (after Nate is anyway!).

I also have been thinking about my uncle. I ask that you all keep him in your prayers. He has been fighting stage 4 prostate cancer. He has had several different radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Since things have been so advance, the treatments haven’t been working. He was recently in the hospital for blood transfusions and is starting on a path of new experimental treatments. My heart breaks because he is only 60 and a first time grandfather last year. His father (my paternal grandfather) also suffered from cancer. I thank the Lord that my dad is still in good health. This has been a scary time for our family.

After Nate, I really took a look into the genetics of family (or at least thought about it a lot). Here I am 5’7” and my husband is 6’5”, we have two children. Audrey is 6 1/2 at is measuring 4’2”. The average for her age is 3’4”. This puts her into the average size of a 10 year old. Love to see what the age of her bones are. The doctor told us that she will be reaching 6 foot. Nathan, on the other-hand is a different story. Because of his dwarfism, he will most likely be in a 4 foot range. He is measuring 31 inches so far. Since he’s closest to a 3 year olds age, their average is 33 inches. So, he is still pretty close, but when he is next to someone his age, he is definitely looks smaller. I would love for someone to do a genetics study on my family just to see how these things happen, what you get from whom.

On the brighter side, Audrey starts school on Sept. 7th! I’m so excited and so is she. She is in the 1st grade now. Her teacher, Mrs. Madigan, is so nice and I felt a good connection with her teacher. On top of that all her friends (most of them) from her old class are in hers. She also has some of the friends from her Daisy group. I’m so glad, it makes going back a lot easier. Since there are 4 different 1st grades, she may have ended up with no one. Obviously, the teachers pay attention to this and when they pick students for their class they work hard to keep friendships together. I hope to get some pictures up from the first day

Also, Nate is going back to speech therapy this week. He has been making good progress. He has been saying new words and putting together two word phrases. He’s still shy around new people and doesn’t talk. Most of the words he makes substitute for the real thing so only I know what he is referring to. I was super proud of him the other day saying “batteries,” it was really clear and it is a 3 syllable word. Now some pictures!♥

On FB I mentioned the shoe debacle. Nate loved his pair of shoes so much, no new shoe compared. I finally found this shoes online but they didn’t have the same color. But it was a success. Never knew boys would be so picky about shoes. Stubborn (wonder where he gets it from?) Also, this is his new way to lounge with the dog!

My parents with the kids this summer! Note I got Nate ready for bed and then my mom said, we need pictures!

Nate got some toy power tools. In it were safety goggles. Enough said!!

Nate wanted to give the cat a treat. That’s one of his favorite jobs is to give the dog and cat treats. He pulled out this huge tub of catnip. I thought he listened to me (emm hmm) and put it back. I’m making dinner and hear his giggle. I captured the action. One of the best things on Earth is the pure joy that comes from a child’s laugh!!

Lost Footage

Last year I was blessed with an abundant garden. This year I slacked off some and it shows. I got my garden in late and then hot weather hit. It took a toll on my little seedlings and stunted their growth. My yellow bell peppers are puny. I’m waiting on cukes and tomatoes and the other broccoli. I’m happy I got something.

Here’s Audrey with her friend Serenity. They had a sleepover that went really well. I swear these two are twins separated at birth. I’m really bummed that they won’t be going to the same elementary school together. Means I will have to schedule more play dates!

We did get outside for some pool action before rain came. Nate loves the water and I can’t wait to sign up for swim lessons. I also can’t believe that I got action pictures with my slow camera.

 

We’ve had some fun shopping excursions! We stopped at Traverse City Pie Co. for some cookies and coffee after lunch. You can see the kids enjoyed them. Not sure if you can see Nate behind that big cookie!

Then it was off to Trader Joe’s. My mom raves about the store which is at least 40 min from my house. Me not so impressed. The kids found these shopping carts, which I have heard are quite the rave. I did find a delicious chocolate bar! But not worth a 40 min drive.

So Friday I needed to hit Sam’s Club. The only place I buy diapers. Once again it’s after lunch but my lil’ man was worn out from the previous shopping day. He actually fell asleep while sitting in the cart. I pulled out the changing pad and a spare set of clothes to make a bed. I guess it was good enough. He got about a 30 minute nap in the cart!

Cheesy Nate

Cheesy Audrey

Nate finally had a play date with our neighbor. The boys are 6 weeks apart in age. It makes it hard not to compare them and expect Nate to be on the same level. I know that Nate will be there too, he’s just pacing himself. Nate did enjoy giving hugs. I hope that this is a start to a good friendship!

Other than that it’s been pretty low key around here. Started some back to school shopping and gearing up for the new school year.

Nashville~Part II

Had some issues with my blogger template that I had to address before I could finish my Nashville post. Onward!

Tuesday

We decided to sleep in this morning. All the hustle and bustle from the conference and the heat really got to us. After getting ourselves ready we headed for a short walk over to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was a nice museum and took me back to being a kid. I remember many times being dragged to museums to learn the history of something. Nate enjoyed the freedom to run around and Audrey enjoyed the dresses. She especially loved the Taylor Swift dress.

Although I don’t know everything about country music, I learned a lot and respect those that paved the way for the music I listen to now.

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After that we were off to lunch at Jack’s BBQ! The most talked about BBQ joint down there. It was really good but wish it was a sit down and order as opposed to a walk-up-and-order. We have a BBQ joint in downtown Detroit called Slow’s BBQ and there you sit down and order. After lunch we strolled back to the hotel and was lucky to bump into Liz and her 3 year old daughter Ashley. They live about 45 minutes from us and I’ve gotten to see them a couple of times at LPA events.

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later that evening we took a drive out to Historic Franklin and got some dinner.

Wednesday

By now everyone is crabby from the conference and bad nights of sleep. At this point I realize we should have gone home but I still had the banquet on Thursday and planned on leaving on Friday morning. By this time we are leaving on Starbucks for breakfast, just give me coffee. Today we headed out to the Nashville Science Museum. I know that it isn’t too far from the hotel but I accidently put the wrong address into the GPS and end up at some worn downed warehouse. Oops! Re-enter address and we are there. I didn’t tell Audrey we were going here and she kept trying to guess what the building was. I guess I choose a good place to go because Audrey and Matt disappeared. I was left with Nate to venture on our own. Some things he found exciting and others not so much. There was a whole area dedicated to the human body and healthcare. I tried to get Nate to put on this little white doctor lab coat but because I asked that wasn’t going to happen. Some day I will get those cute picture, right? In the center of the museum they have a play structure that you can go higher and higher up. Never let you 2 year old lead the way. I’m trying to be all encouraging, climbing through tight spot till we are at the top. You have 2 choices: you can go down the stairs that everyone is coming up or you have a twisty slide to go down. Guess who wouldn’t go down the slide and I don’t like heights, especially with a 2 year old who is prone to falling. I was the “fun police”, as Matt calls me, and carried Nate down the stairs with a diaper bag/purse in a steep stairway that’s about the width of me. Geez, what we do for our kids!

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Thursday

Starbucks again in the morning! Today was to be quiet, hang out for a while before the banquet. We ran into Jaime and Caty in the lobby and we excited to chat and get a couple photos.

We decided to take a drive, stop for lunch and of course, stop at Lowe’s (Matt works for Lowe’s)

Then back to the hotel for a nap for Nate. Audrey had been enjoying the Children’s Room at the conference and they loved having her. She wanted those tokens so bad so she could shop at the banquet. I tried to get some nice pictures of us for the banquet but I had the camera on the wrong setting and my kids don’t like their pictures taken together.

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We really only got to stay for dinner at the banquet by the time we were done eating, we had to get the kids. The food was okay and the prices on drinks were ridiculous! But we had fun at our table. We had a family crash our table, which split another family up. The table crashes refused to go to their assigned table because it was not place in the correct spot according to the diagram from sign-up. A mom and her younger daughter sat at another table which left 3 seats for her other daughters at our table. The one daughter was quite pissed and made sure that everyone knew it. I actually had someone come to me with the assignment book and asked if our names were on that table list. I proudly pointed to our names. But maybe it was for the best that those girls mother wasn’t at the table. They didn’t hold back and they had me laughing so hard I was crying. Mainly it was about the blind lesbian keynote speaking and some of the things she said. The one thing I remember is that LP’s are very sexual people (her words, not mine). Made me wonder who her partner was. Anyway, it was a nice night and the husband and I got a dinner without the kids.

Friday

Time to head home. We were up bright and early. Matt checked out at 6am and we were on the road at 8. It was a 1 1/2 hour drive to Mammoth Cave National Park. It was a pretty drive back to the visitor center. I didn’t realize how many people would be there and that they have different tours at different times. Should of done my research. I was expecting a Niagara Falls where you just walk up and look. We did however run into a couple families with LP’s. How cool is that. The cave is absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to go back and do a bigger tour. It was very humid that day and made it hard to hike. I was hot and sweaty but when I got to the cave opening it was like nature’s air conditioning. Underneath the temperature drops to around 68 degrees. You can see steam rising up out of the opening. After we got up the lenses on my camera and glasses fogged up. One thing I am happy for is that Nate only weighs 24 lbs. You are not allowed to bring anything down into the cave except a camera, jacket and a bottle of water. After taking pictures my new goal is a new camera. Something that might be able to get better pictures down there.

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Nashville~Part I

Howdy you'll! We made it to Nashville!

FRIDAY

The kids and I flew in while Matt drove down. Nate loved the airport and getting to see the planes. But he especially loved the luggage cars. We had some time to wait for our plane and enjoyed a little shopping too! I was so nervous about how the kids would do on the flight that I forgot how I don’t like to fly. Or maybe I just realized that. During the take-off I was doing my deep breathing so I wouldn't pass out. Audrey noticed and thought that I looked funny. I probably did! But it didn’t make it any better when she smiled and said, “It feels like we’re falling, mom!” From the airport we hopped a shuttle to the hotel and started to find a place for lunch. I hate being someplace and not knowing where to find food. Nate was on a steady diet of McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin, M&M's and Doritos's. He doesn't eat very well when he is in a new environment. After Matt arrived, I had us checked into the hotel. We threw everything in our room and headed out to the mall and stopped for dinner.

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SATURDAY

In the morning we headed out early to take the kids to the zoo. It was Audrey's choice for a non-LPA event. I thought that it was an important thing to do since this was our family vacation too. Not fair to make it all about him. We had a great time but could have done without the humidity. We saw Giraffes, Elephants, Lorikeets, Meer Kats, Tigers, Lynxes, Clouded Leopards, Alligators as well as amphibians, reptiles, fish and spiders. We even saw bats which Nate screamed at and started to cry. He didn't like that they flew. Guess it's better when animals don't move! We played on their big play scape and hit the gift shop before a little sprinkle of rain showed up. Happy to get to the air conditioned car, we were hot and sweaty. Since Nate wasn't eating to well, we swung through McDonald's for some chicken nuggets (which he ate one) and headed back to the hotel. Time to hang around and bump into some familiar faces. We finally found Kim and Preston! I also ran into Katie and Bill from The Little Chocolatiers. I talked with them for awhile. Later we left for dinner and ste at Rippy’s BBQ on Broadway. Nate finally ate a PB&J sandwich!

SUNDAY

Sunday came fast. Happy 4th of July!! We ate some breakfast and then tried to spot some friends. Yeah, finally some Facebook and blogging friends were found. We had a quiet morning at the hotel and Nate was getting sleepy. Matt headed down to the 4th of July festivities at the waterfront with Audrey. I took Nate to Panera Bread for another PB&J and a yogurt smoothie! After we went for a walk and found Walgreen's which was closed. Thank God there was a Dollar General across the street and I shopped there. Got a few munchies for the room. On the way back to the hotel Nate fell asleep and I took him straight to the hotel room for his nap. By the time he woke up it was a race to get him ready and head out for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with our POLP's. I wasn't expecting to wait 30 minutes for an elevator and by the time we walked over to the restaurant it was already 5:30. We were to be there at 5:00. There were 9 more of us left to be seated and they wouldn't let us till 6. That really sucked because everyone else was in the first seating and all the kids got to hang out with each other. They were ready to head down to the fireworks while we were eating our dinner. We thought about going but after we got outside and saw the massive crowd I knew Nate wouldn't do well. I was having a hard time getting the stroller through the crowd. I gave up and headed back to the hotel. Plus, I forgot ear plugs and that wouldn’t have gone very well. I figured we watch them on TV, after all Detroit's fireworks are televised. I watched NY City's beautiful fireworks on TV instead because they don't televise Nashville's. Big bummer!

MONDAY

Today was a busy day! We started by driving out to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast. It was really good and the homemade preserves with biscuits were to die for. Then we rushed back to make it for Nate's first doctors appointment (appt). First appt was with Dr Yahner a nutritionist. I get concerned over my kids eating habits but Nate is normal. I did learn that his portion size needs to be really small. Boy can that kid pack it away some times. Next appt was with Dr. Jallo a neurologist. I had him examine Nate and then look at his MRI. All good news and it is very unlikely that Nate would need decompression surgery! So we are done with neurologist. We did the free hearing screening in which they said Nate didn't pass on his left ear. We see our ENT in August and will talk about it then. After some lunch Nate had his last appt with Dr. McKenzie an orthopedist. He checked him head to toe and after answering some concern we were giving a clean bill of health. So unless anything of major concern comes up the next National will be more social. Trying to fill in the blanks, my memory has escaped me. I can’t remember what happened after Nate’s last appt. He probably napped and then we headed someplace for dinner.

Ketchup!!

I can’t believe that so much time has gotten away from me. In a week the family leaves for Nashville, TN. By that time I will have so much to blog about as if I don’t already. It’s been two months since I’ve posted anything. Maybe some will understand how much it takes to stay on top of blogging, Facebook, e-mails, general surfing and research. I was starting to have a deep and meaningful relationship with my computer. I missed the interaction with my family and seeing Nate cry because I pulled out the laptop finally did me in. I stepped back from blogging and have drastically cut back my Facebook. Really, it was the Facebook that fueled the obsession.

I left off some place back in May. I can hardly remember what I did the day before and now I have to think back that far? I’ll just hit the highlights. I talked about Nate starting Speech Therapy. He went a total of 6 times before the end of the year (school year). He is not much for the school scene and barely wants to interact but that’s okay. Nate likes to hang back and observe and he definitely absorbs everything in. He has really increased his vocabulary. He still needs help in pronunciation which will come in time.

Audrey has finished Kindergarten and graduated to the 1st Grade. It was bittersweet. I’m so proud of her but there is the realization that she is growing up and with that more white hairs have popped up on my head. I once again have planted a garden this year. I was a week behind in getting everything planted and had to replant some plants that died. This year I planted a little less and some different things. I have tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, onions, red cabbage, broccoli, cilantro and my herbs; oregano, thyme and chives. Usually I’m super-psyched about gardening but the bug isn’t hitting me. Maybe I’m just thinking about my vacation.

So you may be wondering what I have been doing in all my non-computer time. Well, I joined a gym! I need to work out and lose all the pregnancy weight. I need to be healthy for my family and hopefully not be sick anymore. I get to put Nate (Audrey too) in childcare which is good for him in socializing and increasing his vocabulary. I was going on a pretty regular basis until my kids decided to be sick. Nate came down with a sinus infection in late April which we treated. In about 3 weeks he came down with his second sinus infection which again needed antibiotics. The second was the worst because it spread to his eyes. He woke up in the morning with his eyes glued shut. I had enough, I requested to see and allergist. Of all the times he has gotten sick, it must be due to him having allergies. This week we found out that he is allergic to dogs and we have one! Short from getting rid of the dog, we can treat him with antihistamines and use an air purifier. I have been in super cleaning mode to eliminate as much dog hair as possible. Or should I say impossible. I won’t be sorry when his times up, I just have to wait another 10 years or so. I was also told that when you have allergies you are more susceptible to colds and other things. The picture is more clear now. On a side note at the doctor’s office today was a very friendly stray cat that Audrey tried to take home. Really, that darn thing actually jumped in my car as I opened the door. Why was I at the doctor’s today? Seven days till Nashville and Audrey got Strep Throat. This has been a bad year of ailments. I’ve paid my dues, my doctors are rich!!

We also went to a small farm to see some animals. I happen to run into an old college friend and her 3 year old son. We got together for the kids to play and for us to catch up. It was so nice. I hope that we have more time to get together.

I’ll end it here with more things to come.

District 5 Spring Regional

Maybe it’s time to update the blog! Once again I start to write and get sidetracked and then never get back to it.

Nate and I attended our first regional on April 17th. We had a good time getting to meet new people. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more younger kids for Nate there. I bumped into a mom that I haven’t seen in a year. She has a beautiful 3 year old daughter with Achondroplasia. We talked for a little bit. I realized that I didn’t push myself to get to know more people. I wish I was the social butterfly that my daughter is. Things are pretty laid back at a regional. I attended a parent’s meeting, general meeting and then traveled to the site for the DAAA games. This was our first time checking things out there. Nate really enjoyed watching the kids play soccer. Maybe something he would be interested in. He’ll reach the age requirement by the National in Dallas, TX.

Nate has also started speech therapy. At first, I thought he was doing real well. He was saying some new words and I figure that “explosion of language” was going to come. After several attempts to get him to use words instead of screaming he would eventually just laugh at me. He amazingly knows what everything is but just can’t get those words to come out. Since a few meetings, he is trying more and becoming easier to understand. Our next meeting we are going to meet another LP! I think I may know who it is (they can’t tell us.)

Audrey has another month or so of school left. I’m excited to get the break but it only means that summer is around the corner. We have packed a lot into our summer this year. Audrey has 2 camps and we have Nashville. Around all that, I have my mom coming in from Iowa and we still have to find time for our trip to Northern Michigan. Most of this except for Nashville will be rudely interrupted due to me having to be in court. I’m an eyewitness and am therefore required to appear. It would be so much easier if the a**hole would just plead guilty (it knows it is guilty and they have evidence) and waive it’s right to a trial. But it wants everyone else to suffer and be miserable along with it while wasting the taxpayers money. I went from being a victim to finding it my duty to make sure it isn’t on the streets anymore.

Audrey also had a field trip to a farm this week. She had a great time. I wish I could of gone but didn’t have a babysitter for Nate. She enjoyed getting to hold a baby pig! I’m just glad she didn’t ask for one! She saw cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, chicks, kittens, rabbits and a dog. They also had a chance to make butter. I’m awaiting photos from a friend. maybe I can post them later. Here’s a couple pictures of Nate and one of my pink dogwood tree.

Audrey’s Girl Scout Swaps

Audrey was required to make 100 items to swap. They had to be able to pin them on. Mom’s creative idea turned out to be hard work and for them to come out decent, I had to do it. Felt bad about this, but I am a perfectionist. Can’t put out a crappy product. We made daisy pins.

The girls had a good time. Nate, however, wanted nothing to do with it. He did enjoy a hot dog though!

After they are done, they enjoy what they got. Here are a few of the creations.

flip-flop, ice cream float, owl, daisy, Easter basket, party in a bag, heart lollipop and a caterpillar. But to get the full effect you need to see what is the beginning of a collections of worthless crap! Yes, those are my words. I hate clutter and things that don’t have a use. So, this is where we parked year #1’s collection!

A shoebox!! I’m sure there is over 100 items in this box. Go Girl Scouts!!!

Our Easter!!

I feel like I’m starting to catch up on all my blogging. Audrey understood April Fool’s day this year and enjoyed telling me I had spiders in my hair!!

We had another craze of sickness hit the house. Audrey had a sinus and double ear infection and was put on antibiotics. Two days after that Nate got sick and after 4 days of not getting better took him to the doctors. Our regular doctor was out so we had another in the practice. He said Nate had a cold (not what Audrey had) but his ears looked a little red. For the most part the tubes in his ears have been working well. So Nate was put on Augmenten. He doesn’t favor well on this stuff. He refused to take it and raspberried back into my face. What I did get down caused diaper rash and mild diarrhea. After a couple days I called the doctors and the nurse told me to mix with yogurt. Finally, I was getting it down him. Two days after that, at night Nate broke out in a rash on his arms. It looked like a bad sunburn and hives showed up on his back and legs. I stopped the antibiotic and called the doctors office the next morning. Although not 100% positive, the doctor determine a mild allergic reaction to the antibiotics. We now have to stay away from Penicillin. To top that off, Audrey came down with gastroenteritis which she gave to her dad and Nate. For Nate it hit right around Easter. He already had diarrhea from the antibiotics and now this. Poor kid lost 2 pounds.

Easter morning and once again it was like Christmas. Audrey was up early checking everything out and wanting us to get up too. Not going to happen. But once we were up, I snatched the camera and the kids dug through their baskets. Next was the egg hunt. The Easter bunny took the easier route and hid candy filled plastic Easter eggs. Sorry, no dying eggs this year. No one likes hard-boiled eggs and I didn’t want the mess or fuss after everyone being sick again!

  

Later we went over to Matt’s parents for dinner and the kids found what the Easter bunny left them there.