Connor taking a ride!

Okay so not only does Kate have therapy so does Connor. He gets therapy right after Kate. Yes our house is a revolving door when it comes to therapists. Connor does not participate very well in his session. He is all over the place and poor Miss Betty chases him all over the house. He is so quick. Today she finally found something that he likes. Connor loves to be pulled around on his blanket. He just paid back and relaxed. It was so funny. Every time she would stop he would sign "more". Then as she was dragging him around the house he would say, "go, go go.!" Yes this is truly amazing because this really is the first word that he has said unprompted in the right context. It was a great day for accomplishments around the tax house today! Connor loved his ride and he was sad to see Miss Betty go. The next thing that we will work with Connor is why he has to lick everything. We find him frequently in the fridge just licking the milk jug. Weird!!! We love you Connor!

A little glimpse of our therapy life!

So as you all know Kate is receiving Occupational Therapy (OT) for a variety of issues. Mainly for her sensory issues, some fine motor planning, and most recently her overwhelming OCD! Today Miss Betty came to our house like she usually does on Wednesday afternoons. Kate is always so excited to see her. She ran to the door yelling, "Miss Betty! Miss Betty! She's Here!" She came in and they got right to work. One of Kate's goals is to participate and tolerate messy play. We have worked with play doh, silly putty, tape, glue, and many other "messy" things. Today was going to be the big test. Now Kate had already had a hard day. From last night to this morning she cried her eyes out because she did not want to wear her pajamas to school. You see it is spirit week at her preschool and today was pajama day. Why they have spirit week with days that you have to wear odd things to school, at a special needs preschool where many kids deal with transition issues is beyond me. (Okay I feel better now!) Jillian was able to talk her down and was able to actually get her to wear her pajamas with the help of Carter! They changed int he parking lot! By the way she came home and immediately ripped the pajamas off! I was nervous on how this therapy session would go. Today was the ultimate test. It was SHAVING CREAM DAY! Okay so to most parents I can see that you now have a big smile on your face and you are saying to yourself, "How fun!" Not so much! You see Chris and I looked at each other and knew that this would not be good. Kate does not like to be dirty and does not like to have things on her hands. We came into the kitchen and Miss Betty showed her how to spray the shaving cream from the can; which she thought was pretty cool. The cream was out of the can and on her hands. Chris, Miss Betty and myself all stopped, took a breath, and waited..... a smile came across Kate's face. She began to laugh and say this is silly. What!!!!!!! This was amazing!!!




Miss Betty and Kate began to play with the shaving cream. They were making letters in the cream and shapes. Kate was doing a great job.



We thought we were in the clear... then it happened. Kate stopped making the letter "t" and said, "I have to go wash my hands." Miss Betty turned to me and said, "sensory overload," We were able to talk to Kate and Miss Betty was able to take some cream off her hands. That sufficed her for a little while. They began to play some more. Every three minutes Kate would say that she had to go wash her hands. Each time Miss Betty was able to take the cream off with her hands and she was okay with that.


After about 15 minutes or so Kate got off the chair and stood up and said. "I have got to go wash my hands!" She ran to the bathroom and started scrubbing. She came out and surprisingly enough got right back up on the chair and began to play again. You can see in the pictures when she got it on her face. That did not go over so well. Kate lasted for about 20 minutes with the shaving cream washing her hands frequently in the end. We were actually very proud of her. 6 months ago if you asked her to touch shaving cream she would have started screaming. She would have put 1 finger in the cream and then freaked out. Today Kate put both hands in the cream and was digging around. Miss Betty was very proud of her and said that she did a great job! We were all smiles at the end of the session with her. Kate has made some real progress in OT. Kate brings so much joy to our life and she always does things a little bit differently than most, but boy do we love her! If we could just get her to stop lining everything up we would be doing great!:)

Connor does the funniest things!

I decided to share with you one of the funniest things that Connor does. I am sure that you all have seen him do it. Whenever we say No or he is trying to hide from something he does this! It is so funny! I just happened to have my camera when he did it at Grandma and Grandpa's. He is so cute!!!!!

Kate Graduated!!!!

Just a quick note to let you all know that we had something super exciting happen on Sunday! For the past 2 years our life has been filled with speech, occupational, and physical therapy for some developmental delays that Kate has encountered. This has been truly taxing on both her and the rest of us. Going to three therapies a week plus working and preschool, and just being a kid has been hard work. And to top it all off Connor also recieves 3 therapies a week. Somewhere along the line I guess I was not taking enough prenatal vitamins or something! Well our list has been cut down to 7 therapies a week to just 6. YEAH!!!!!!!!!! Although we really do love Ms. Mary Jo we are so excited for Kate's progress. When she started 6 months ago she scored a 81, on Sunday she scored over a 100!!!!!!!! We couldn't have been happier! I actually started to tear up because in the year and a half that we have been doing this we have never had a therapist tell us that she has met her goals! She can now target throw a ball, swim, ride her bike, and walk to the park. Just to compare when we started this she could not climb in and out of the car by herself. No she jumps in and out! We are so proud of her! She was so excited on Sunday!

Vacation 2008!

We went on vacation to San Diego with our good friends Ed, Cara, and Adam. We had an amazing time. The first half of the week the kids were home with different people and we were actually able to sit and enjoy ourselves. Although at time I am not sure we knew what to do with ourselves because we felt like we should be chasing someone or changing a diaper or breaking up a tug of war over a toy! It was amazing. My brave sister flew the kids out on Tuesday and they were with us until we all came home on Saturday. We had so much fun. Kate loved the water and the sand. Connor was so funny. Everyday I would take him to the beach and everyday he would eat the sand! He never learned from the day before that it did not taste good. We pretty much just sat at the beach all day for a week! We stayed in a house that was about 15 feet from the sand. The rest of my family arrived the day we were leaving. Chris and I both had to get back to work so we could not stay another week. It was great to see everyone and let Kate play with her cousins. Enjoy the pics!

It all Began

Well I have officially joined the blogging world. What a better way to start if off then take you all back to the beginning. I have been married to my wonderful husband Chris for 6 years now. We are high school sweethearts. We have been together for 10 years and I am in love with him more and more everyday. I truly found my soulmate in him. We have had many a journey together and I could not have asked for a better partner along the way. We got married and of course after a few years decided to add to our family. On November 15, 2004 we gave birth to our beautiful daughter Kate. She is now 3 1/2 and is so full of life. I think when you have children of your own you can truly appreciate all that you parents did for you. I think that unconditional love is felt at that very moment. Not only for your new child but for your husband. I remember thinking and telling my sisters that Chris would be passed out on the floor when Kate was born. Boy was I wrong. He turned into this amazing coach. He was so focused and was so involved that I could not help but tear up. I knew even more that day then I had known before that he truly is my best friend. Kate has brought so much joy into our life. She has had some bumps along the way but has managed to become such an amazing little girl. When Kate was two we decided that we wanted to have another baby. On May 25, 2008 we gave birth to our son, Connor. It was such an amazing day because our Anniversary is on May 25 as well. What a way to celebrate. Connor came home and our family has been complete ever since. Connor is such a bundle of energy! You teachers out there watch out! He is our little guy who has the best smile and gives the best hugs. He is now walking and climbing on the couch! They grow up two quick! My heart is so full of love for my children. I enjoy so much just sitting back and watching my children interacting with each other or watching as they run to daddy when he gets home from work! The little things that children do are what it makes it all worth while at the end of the day. Like Connor right now thinks it is really fun to play in the toilet (yes I know what you are thinking, what a bad mom) He just stands there and thinks it is okay to put his hands in there. He can open all the doors and lift all the lids. When I tell him no he just shakes his head and laughs. But at night when he wants mom and lays his head down on my chest and gives me a kiss it seems to make that headache go away. This is hoe we started and I am so excited for the journey to come! We are surrounded by friends and family who love us. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many wonderful friends.