Ear tubes and boy funnies

Elijah will get tubes placed in his ear (ears??) on December 7th. It literally was the only 15 minutes open in the ENT's schedule for the entire month of December. We are very thankful the time was available!

Dan and I took the boys to see Santa at the mall today. We have never talked much about Santa, as we have liked to keep the "reason for the season" as true as possible. Elijah was barely impressed by Santa today (which I secretly loved) and Sammy wanted nothing to do with him. He did allow Santa to give him a high-five. :) Santa kept asking E, "Well, what do you want me to bring you for Christmas?!" and E kept saying, "I don't know! Toys!" "Well, what kinds of toys." "I don't know!"

A couple E funnies from today:
"Mom, you are the sprinkles on my cupcake!"

"Mom, you are the fresh gingerbread man in my Candyland gingerbread house!"

"You are the sleeping beauty in my sleeping bed!"

Some Sammy funnies/goodies:
He has wanted to wear band-aids on his fingers all day. Or "bam-daids," as he calls them. When they would fall off, he would freak out just a bit. "BAM-DAIDS! BAM-DAIDS!"

After every nap, Sammy snuggles with either Dan or me for at least 20 minutes. It is the BEST. I love that sweet, snuggly, independent (oh my goodness, is he independent!) boy to pieces.

Christmas-time

Hello! We are alive and well. In the past few days life has slowed down for us a bit, which has been wonderful. On Sunday, the four of us enjoyed time at home together for the first time in many many months. It was a wonderful day.

Here is what has been going on with us..

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations! The boys have loved this (as have we). I think for the first time ever, Elijah is truly enjoying the Christmas season. Sammy seems to be loving it, too.

Dan and I found an ornament buried deep inside our Christmas Bin this year. Neither of us have any idea where it came from, but we have both been enamored by it. It has taken center-spot on our tree!

The boys have been in a love-hate relationship for...well, their whole lives..but they have been mostly loving each other lately. Today, as they were each redeeming stickers (phone-time) from their Behavior Charts, I caught them wanting to be close to each other!

Sammy got a haircut today! The gal cutting his hair refused to cut all of it off. Funny that his name is Samson and people refuse to cut his hair. :) The haircut is cute, though.

Elijah was sick last week and got another ear infection, this time in his right ear. Having very little hearing in his left ear already, it has been interesting with him having limited hearing in his right ear, as well. We have to basically yell everything at him, if we want him to hear and understand what we are saying. We are hoping to get him in for ear-tube surgery in the next few weeks to alleviate this issue.

We have created new charts for both boys, in which we give stickers for good behavior. Both boys have been doing things such as zipping their own coats (Elijah), going potty with no complaining (both boys), sharing with brothers (both boys), allowing Mommy or Daddy to help perform tasks (Sammy), being kind to people (both boys) and sharing (both boys). Earning stickers means earning fun things! Hoping to continue the nice trend..

Elijah has been a bit obsessed with Willy Wonka. We bought the (old) dvd for him a year or so ago, but he has just become interested. He sits in front of this movie when it is playing and does not ever look away. Once it is done, he asks a million questions. "Mom! What happens to the kid who goes up the chocolate pipe?" "Mom! Why does Willy Wonka tap the girl with his cane?" "Mom! Is Charlie a good kid in the end?" All day he has been saying to me, "Can we PLEASE talk about Willy WONKA?!" :)

We have a laid-back week ahead, which I love! Thank you for checking in. xo

The Tooth Fairy

Elijah pulled out his tooth in the middle of the night last night and placed it under his pillow. He was bummed that the Tooth Fairy didn't come. :( I explained that she didn't know his tooth was there, and that she would come tonight.

Sammy said, "Take a picture of my teeth, too!"

Better get to my Tooth Fairy duties! :)

The sweetest little Sammy and a wiggly tooth!

This Sammy of ours. When he is sweet, he is so stinkin' sweet. I can hardly stand it!

Today after Elijah got home from school he was eating lunch and excitedly announced to me that he had a wiggly tooth! I had not yet talked to him about losing teeth, but thankfully he had watched the "Teeth" episode of Yo Gabba Gabba a couple of times so he was somewhat informed. I almost started crying! Losing teeth already?! My big boy!

We talked about what would happen in the next couple days and then he asked about the Tooth Fairy. In standard Elijah fashion, there were A LOT of questions about her. Where does she live? What color is her wand? What does she do during the daytime? Do her wings move fast? What city is her house in? 

Then it was 100% his idea to write her a letter..

Translation: 

Dear Tooth Fairy, 

Elijah broke his tooth. 

! Bob (no idea what this is about). 

Elijah

By the end of the day the tooth was a little bit more wiggly. In the next few days we will have one less baby tooth!

IEP meeting and BATHS!

Yes, you read that right. Sammy is now willingly taking baths! Finally! We had to trick him a bit, but it has been working. We have started putting Elijah in the bath first, not saying a word to Sam about getting in. Eventually, Sammy decides for himself that, HEY! That looks like fun! And he comes over to join his brother. Only because it was his own idea. I have never known a more independent person than Samson David Porta.

I posted this photo because you can see Elijah's lazy eye here. We especially notice it when he's not wearing his glasses, but it occasionally happens when he is wearing his glasses, as well.

Dan and I attended Elijah's Evaluation meeting and also his IEP meeting this afternoon. I always get nervous about these meetings because sometimes it is hard to hear about all of the things that are "wrong" with our boy. These meetings get much easier the older he gets, and the more I get used to attending them. Back when he was really behind in every area, they weren't so easy.

Today's meeting was good. Dan and I are so proud of how far Elijah has come. As we sat and listened to everyone talk about concerns and areas that need improvement (and ALSO how smart and friendly and likable he is), I remembered where he was at three years ago. He has come so far. Incredibly far!

The nurse who attended the meeting said the most perfect thing. She had read through Elijah's medical records (which we very much appreciate), and she said that people who have valve replacements need a lot of time to function at full capacity after the replacement occurs. For the first few years of his life, he lived with a temporary valve and also with very low oxygen saturation in his blood. As the nurse said, HE IS JUST BEHIND. He started late for good reason and he is just behind. This is what has been on my heart so strongly for the past six months. He had such a late start, so it is understandable that he has so many delays. 

There are literally 26 pages of information about Elijah that we went through today. We are so very grateful to have such amazing and focused care for him. His "team" is seriously awesome, you guys. We are blessed beyond words.

In a nutshell..

Elijah's academics are a non-issue. He is above average in this area. He is finally interacting with his peers at a "normal" level, which is music to our ears. 

Concerns: His fine motor skills are very delayed and they are starting to get in the way of his productivity in class. For example, he needs helps twisting the glue cap open and closed and turning pages in a notebook, so he spends his time asking for help instead of accomplishing tasks. Winter is almost here, and he is unable to snap and button and zip and tie. That means that time will be taken away from other important tasks as he tries to get these things accomplished.

As has always been the case for him, gross motor is a concern, as well. He is unable to keep up with his peers. We were encouraged to hear that although he cannot keep up or physically participate in the way that his peers do, he adapts well! He can't jump while turning in a circle, but he can do his own little circle dance and accomplish it as best he can. He can't sit unassisted for the entire circle time, but he leans and adjusts his weight and body as he needs to. He can't keep up with the kids while they walk to the library, but he does his little half-run that gets the job done.

And the other main concern was Elijah's distractibility and his need to constantly repeat things and have things repeated. Dan and I can relate very well to this concern, as we remind him to do things CONSTANTLY at home. Repetition is a major theme for us. 

So there it is. Elijah is behind, but he is making progress. He has very good reason to be behind. We support and love him and we will do anything in the world to help him continue to catch up and be the happiest person he can be. We feel so incredibly thankful that he has such a caring and competent care team. Honestly, they are the best. Elijah is one lucky little guy. 

And our Sammy. We love him so very much. He is a cute, smart little boy. My most recent prediction about him is that he is going to have a love for music. He can tell me the name of any instrument just by sound and he has this natural, deep little singing voice. He still loves to snuggle, and every night he has to sleep with his blankie ("bebe"), blanket ("banket," which he likes for me to cover his back with when he goes to bed), cow ("Cowwy") and bear ("Baloo"). He often talks to and cares for the stuffed animals in our house, which is the cutest thing.

I love these precious boys!

Thanks for checking in! Have a great weekend!

CRAZY-ness

My three boys and I spent the weekend in Southwestern Minnesota attending a good friend's wedding. It was the first time in many months that I have been with all of my boys for an entire weekend. It was also the first time in over four years that all of my college roommates and I have been together. It was a good weekend!

Although.. Elijah and Sammy put Dan and I through some tough times. Oh man, these boys can be a handful. We had some trying moments, as I wondered where in the world I had gone wrong as a mother. Thankfully I have a husband who reassures me that our constant efforts at creating two respectful, kind little men will eventually pay off. Sometimes it feels like everything we are doing is fruitless. Dan and I continue to be as consistent as possible while hoping that Elijah and Sammy will indeed be respectful and kind people in the end!

I will end with a few boy funnies:

Sammy LOVES snuggling (when he's not getting mad at us for trying to take his coat on or off). "Mommy! Pease suggle me!" I always accept his invitation.

The other day before nap, Elijah said to me:
"Mom, you are pickle-sweet and you are my best friend."
A few seconds later:
"Mom! You are the arrow in my giant moose head."

We have E's IEP meeting on Thursday. My tummy always gets nervous about these. More on this later. Thanks for checking in!

Good ear news!

I was unfortunately not able to join my boys today for Elijah's ENT appointment to take a peek at his left ear. I will admit that I was nervous about it, and I would have liked to be at the appointment. The mom in me wanted to be the one to ask all the questions. Instead, I told Dan all of my questions at least ten times. :)

I am very very happy to report that the reason Elijah has been experiencing significant hearing loss in his left ear is because fluid has built up behind his ear drum. The doctor thought that this most definitely is happening is because of the infection he had in August that didn't want to go away.

My first question was: Why didn't his primary doctor know this? Apparently specialists are more specialized! Ha! Dan said he took one look and knew from the way his ear drum was shaped, that fluid was behind it.

This is all really great news because it is totally fixable. The doctor wants to wait a few months, just in case it wants to cure itself (although it usually won't by this point). We will go back in January and if things are the same, E will need to get a tube surgically placed in his ear to help drain the fluid. I suppose some parents would be saddened by this, but for us this is something that can be fixed and that makes us happy. Thank you, God!

Daylight Savings is always an interesting week for us, with Elijah being such an early riser. Saturday night the little boys and I spent the night at a friend's house while Dan was hunting. That meant that E and I shared a bed. At 3:30, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, "MOM! Is it time to get up?!" !!! And he did not go back to sleep (neither did I, really...or Sam). Ever since then, we've all been tired. I  have to tell you what he said next because it made my heart melt, although it did not make me want to get out of bed. "Mom, you are my sweet girl and my best friend!" Awww! But.....it is EARLY! GO BACK TO BED, CHILD! :)

This will be my last week of working this freelance job I have been doing since September. This job has been such a huge blessing for us in so many ways. Financially, obviously, but it has also been the positive corporate experience that I desperately needed. Almost a year ago, I was unjustly terminated from my previous job after putting in 8.5 years of stellar service for that company. I have had a very difficult time wanting to be involved in a corporate setting since then. I can truly say that I have been recalibrated! The team I have been working with for the past few months has been awesome. They are respectful and hard-working and considerate and SO NORMAL. I feel so happy to have been a part of this work environment. I am sad that it will be ending soon, but I am also happy that it will be ending soon. That means more time with my boys. But I will miss my coworkers. 

E has another appointment tomorrow, this time with his eye doctor. More info to come on that..

Sammy is as sassy and independent as ever! That boy is a toughie when he wants to be (but usually he is such a sweet and snuggly little thing). Dan and I have basically become master manipulators in order to get him to obey and do what we ask him to do. He keeps us on our toes!

More later! Thanks for checking in!

Halloween 2012

I sped home from work to bring our boys trick-or-treating in a nearby mall. We have done this every year since Elijah was a teeny baby. Sammy was a bit overwhelmed tonight (I remember Elijah being like this up until last year), while Elijah was on Cloud 9!

As those of you who know our Sammy know, he is a very independent little boy. He does things only when he wants to. Dan and I both knew that getting his costume on him would be an ordeal. And it was. He had a cute robot hat that he allowed on his head for about 3 seconds. This is the only photo we got of him wearing it (i.e., taking it off). Somehow he allowed the costume to adorn his body for the entire evening (miracle!).

We had a fun evening! The boys got plenty of candy and tired themselves out walking through the mall.

Elijah was dishing out the love when I asked him to pose with Sammy. 

Kisses even!

When we got home, the boys helped to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Elijah loved this. When our doorbell rang, he would run to the door literally shaking with excitement. He happily tossed candy into other kids' buckets, and then said, "Happy Halloween!!" He totally thrives on social interaction.

I love watching my boys enjoy themselves. It is the best feeling in the world. Tonight I thank God for THEM (all three!) and for toothpaste and floss.

Happy Halloween!

Cardiology visit and more

Dan brought Elijah to see our beloved Dr. G today. All I got from Dan regarding the appointment was that "everything looks good!" I asked him, "No specifics?" "Nope! Everything looks good! We need to come back in April." So we will go back in April. We are extremely thankful that everything looks good with our steadfast boy. :)

Life has been an absolute whirlwhind lately, and thankfully the end is in sight. Another week or two of this madness and we will be able to breathe a bit. I am looking forward to organizing our kitchen (again) and doing some baking for my food blog and thinking ahead to Christmas for the first time in years. I had another fun opportunity come up for work, but that won't start until the end of November. More on that another time!

The boys have kept us very busy. Elijah has Art Class on Mondays, PT/OT on Wednesdays, swimming lessons on Thursdays, Not to mention kindergarten every morning. Potty business has been going better overall. Accidents are fewer and farther between, and spontaneous toileting (no prompting from us) occurs on occasion. This is an improvement. We still deal with challenging behavior from Elijah at times, but it is almost always when he is overly tired. We are back to having him take naps on days when it fits our schedule. This helps his behavior tremendously. On his good days, we have noticed some maturing. For the past few days, when I say, "Elijah, please go potty," he will occasionally say, "YES! Ok! Yes, Mom, I will!" Of course, he knows this will get him major praise, and perhaps a treat, but that works for me. Slooooooowly but surely, we are getting there.

With Sammy talking so much right now, I have been thinking about how totally different Elijah was at his age and in so many ways. He was just starting to utter his first words at two-and-a-half years old, whereas Sammy is talking in complete sentences. The only reason I make the comparison is to remind myself that Elijah's timeline is way out of the "normal" range, and for very good reason. He has endured his fair share of challenges! This helps me have major potty patience, and overall patience with him when things get rocky. I know I've said this before, but he and Sammy are going through similar stages in so many ways. Being three years apart in age, this is kind of crazy but it really does help me to keep things in perspective.

Speaking of Sammy's speech, this is what he said to me as I got him out of bed this morning: "Hi Mommy! I like your hair! It's really shiny!" :)

There are so many things our boys do and say every day that make me smile and that melt my heart into a huge puddle. I hope to always remember this precious time because I know one day I will miss it. Even amidst the chaos, I love it.

Tomorrow is Halloween, so I am sure we will have some fun photos to share. We carved pumpkins earlier this week. I got Elijah's choice finished on Sunday and Dan got Sammy's done yesterday. Elijah is excited about wearing his Spiderman costume, but Sammy has not allowed us to put his robot costume on him yet. We will see how he does with it tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in! Have a fun and safe Halloween!

NC vacation!

Hello! We are alive! We had a blast in North Carolina last week with my dad and stepmom and many other family members. It was a lovely vacation. We were all sad to come home. Elijah and Sammy both have been periodically saying to us, "I'm sad! I want to go back to Gwammie and Gwamps' house!" :( I love my family. I wish they lived closer. It was WONDERFUL to spend time with them.

Last Thursday my dad and stepmom and I took the boys to an apple orchard in the mountains. The weather wasn't ideal, but I personally thought the fog added "cool" points to the experience. It was so beautiful! Plus, we are from Minnesota, so we were not a bit uncomfortable. :)

Elijah's favorite part of the orchard was the bamboo forest. We walked through it, and both boys kept calling it a "spooky forest." 

A great pic with Grammie in the Spooky Forest..

Isn't the scenery gorgeous? We picked some apples and once we got back home, Paula and I made Apple Butter with them. 

The next few photos are hilarious. "Boys! Pose with Grammie and Gramps for a picture!" Ha! Ha ha!

The day my brother Joel and his sweet sweet girlfriend Bree came into town, we spotted this praying mantis in my dad's back yard. ICKY! But cool, at the same time. I'm secretly glad we don't have these creatures in Minnesota. They are so big!

The purpose for our visit was to celebrate Paula's 30th year in the ministry. It was really cool to celebrate this with her. Family gathered from all over the country to give her love, so we got to spend time with many more people than her and my dad. The boys LOVE Uncle Phill, so seeing him was a huge highlight from the trip. I love this photo of Uncle Phill reading a book to Sammy.

Elijah and the beautiful Bree!

Here was our family photo, minus Heath (my brother) and Heather's (my sister) children and grandchild.

Not so sure what is going on here?! :)

We spent plenty of time at the park near my dad's house. The boys of course loved that, especially when Uncle Joel and Bree were around.

It has been a busy week since arriving back at home. I have been working a lot and Dan and the boys have been holding down the fort. I have decided that our lives are just crazy. Work hard, play hard, work harder, play harder, sleep little, repeat. Life is good. Thanks for checking in!

Water and potty (not together)

Hello friends and family! Just a quick update, as I have to get to bed soon. We have to get up at 4:30 to get to the airport, so good sleep is necessary tonight!

This past weekend we were able to spend some cherished time with one of my best friends in the world, Heather, and her two beautiful children. Elijah was beyond excited to spend time at a nearby waterpark (one of his favorite places in the world)! He explored, but not if water was going to splash in his face. Major anxiety occurs when water splashes his face! We will have to get past this issue next week when he starts swim lessons.

A year ago, he never would have gone down a slide like this. I am proud of my brave boy for conquering his fears.

Sammy has had an aversion to water since the day he was born. He hates baths and pools. When we entered the waterpark, he clung tightly around my neck and said, "GET OUT! GET OUT!" :( He stuck by Dan on the chair the ENTIRE time we were in there. He would not allow us to remove a single shoe from his foot.

At least his chocolate-toothed brother had a blast! We had fun riding down the Lazy River together. That was our special time. He didn't want to get out, and I secretly didn't either.

As I have written before, Sammy is FIERCELY independent. I will give you an example:

Getting him out of bed in the morning and (knowing he wants his blanket and bear with him when he exits his bed) I asked him, "Should I grab Bear and Bebe?!" Simultaneously I grabbed his bear. He saw this, grabbed Bear from my hands and threw him back down to his bed and stood back up. Then he bent back down and grabbed Bear himself.

These sorts of things happen all the time. He will not allow us to carry him upstairs anymore. He wants to walk to his bed by himself and turn his own fan on. He wants to get dressed by himself and buckle himself into his car seat (along with opening his own door and crawling into the car by himself). This is good in many ways, but it can be frustrating, too, as he is not capable of doing all of these things yet.

Elijah and Sammy are TOTALLY opposite in this way. Elijah has no problem whatsoever asking us to do everything for him. Sammy wants NO help. Ever.

(Happy waterpark boy!)

So tonight, Dan and I tricked Sammy a bit. We have learned that if we give him choices and make him feel like he is making decisions completely on his own that he is much more cooperative. He has fought taking baths like crazy his whole life. Tonight Dan said (after Sammy kicked and screamed about having to take a bath for 10+ minutes), "Sammy, you can either let Mama take your clothes off or Daddy will do it." Sam sucked his thumb for 30 seconds and then said, "MOMMY!" So he allowed me to remove his clothes. Step one! Then he said, "Sammy to bath!" Dan and I looked at each other like, WHAAAA?!?!?!?!?

I brought him to the bath and put him in and he was fine! Totally fine. No tears, no resistance. He played with Elijah for a few minutes and then by himself for 10 more. He loved it!

After bath, he was sitting on the couch wrapped in a towel like a cute little monkey and Dan said, "Sammy, if you have to go potty you can do that all by yourself!" So Sammy hopped off the couch and said, "OK! I go potty!" ?!?!?!? Again, we threw one another confused glances. Sammy went into the bathroom and shut the door. "I do it all by 'self!" So we gave him his privacy for a few minutes. Dan went to check on him and he said, "No! Sammy do it!" Ok ok!

He did it! He went potty on his own! At two and a half years old! This is foreign to us. Neither of us knew what to do or think. When he was finished, we danced and sang and gave high-fives and gave him a chocolate treat. Elijah said, "WAIT. What about me?" "Well Sammy went potty on his own!" So guess who else ran to go potty on his own.. :)

Then before bed (20 minutes later), Sammy asked to go potty again. YAYYY!

The little boys and I leave for North Carolina early in the morning. Please pray for good behavior and sanity in the airport and on the airplane! Also for continued potty success for BOTH boys.

Side note.. Elijah was borderline croupy through the night last night and through the day today. We held it off with steroids, and he even stayed home from school today. We are praying for an uneventful night and a vacation filled with total health!

Thanks for checking in! (so much for my quick post..)

That pesky left ear

A few weeks ago I wrote about Elijah failing his hearing test at school in his left ear. We took him to see the doctor today to address that, and he failed the test again. Pretty badly. The doctor looked thoroughly in his ear. He found a tiny bit of wax, but nothing that would be causing so much hearing loss.

I feel in my gut that this has something to do with the horrible ear infection he got in August that took two huge rounds of antibiotics to get rid of. Ever since then, he occasionally tells me that his ear "feels funny." Also, ever since, he does NOT hear everything we say. Before that point in time, neither Dan or I noticed anything that would indicate that he had hearing problems.

In February of 2011 he passed his hearing test with flying colors. This tells us that most likely something was damaged with this ear infection in August. The doctor is referring Elijah to an ENT. Thankfully we already have one! :) We are hoping Dr. S can take a more thorough look and provide us with more insight.

The doctor we saw today didn't feel like this was a permanent thing. It could be, but he seemed to feel otherwise. We remain hopeful! The good news is that his right ear hears perfectly and that his left ear does have some hearing (although not much).

To add to my list of worries, Elijah's left eye has started turning inward again. It is happening a lot, even while he is wearing his glasses. I'm trying not to worry too much. We continue to patch his eye consistently, and again...hope and pray for the best!

Left eye and left ear, HEAL UP! It's always something!

We have a busy but fun next few days. We have some very good friends visiting over the weekend and we even get to spend a night away from home! Dan works over the weekend and I work on Monday. Early Tuesday morning, the little boys and I will board a plane and head to North Carolina to visit family. We cannot wait!

Have a great weekend!

Disco!

Happy tears, sad tears

Here is a fun video of our crazy monkeys from recently. Elijah and Sammy have been having so much fun together! I love it! They talk to each other and play with each other and tease each other and tickle each other and tell each other knock-knock jokes and go to "the store" (the bathroom) and "Elijah's office" (the loft) together and keep each other up at night laughing. Ahhh, I thought this day would never come!

Things are pretty crazy for our little family right now. I have been working a lot and spending nights away from home. Dan is still working weekends and spending nights away from home. Elijah is busy with school and PT/OT and now ART CLASS (fun!). Next week the little boys and I will be getting on an airplane and traveling to North Carolina for a few days. Maybe I can hire someone to come pack for me and help me board the airplane while staying sane?!

While at work today, I had to escape to the restroom twice to shed just a few little tears. One time for a sad reason and another for a happy reason.

Sad first..

While I have been "away" working, I have been in close proximity to my sister Lissa's house. She and her family have graciously offered to let me stay with them occasionally so I don't have to make the long drive home after a long day of work. Today Lissa and her family had to put their dog, Lucy, to sleep. :( She was such a good, old puppy. I was very saddened by sweet Lucy's death. Here is a funny photo my niece Emma and I took of her just last week in her banana costume. :)

Good bye, sweet Lucy! You were a loved puppy!

Next, happy...

Back when Elijah was receiving early childhood care in our home, years ago, we handed over our blog address to the people giving him special care. Being the caring people that they are, they peeked at our blog to get a deeper glimpse into Elijah.

Last week I chatted with Elijah's PT at school, who was also his PT during his very early days. She shared with me that she still, after all these years, keeps up with reading our blog. It meant so much to hear that!

Then yesterday, I chatted with one of Elijah's two teachers and she told me that his PT had passed along our blog address to her (which I am so thankful for) and that she had been reading some of his history on here. Then today I received a very kind email from E's other teacher saying that she, too, read through some of it and that she planned to read through more.

Those of you who know us or who have been reading this blog for a while know that I have always said that Elijah has been so blessed in his little life. Honestly, every single person who has taught him or taken care of him or cared for him medically or otherwise has been not just great, but excellent. And now this continues with his kindergarten care. His "care team" and kindergarten teachers are beyond what we ever could have dreamt for him. They are totally on top of everything and they are in contact with us regularly and they genuinely seem to care for him. Being interested in reading through this blog?? That means so much to both Dan and me. All of those prayers I said for his kindergarten teacher have been answered. We have TWO of them and they are both amazing. That's not to mention the rest of his care team!

Those were my happy bathroom tears today. I am thankful.

I hope his wonderful teachers do not mind if I post their pictures! Here is Elijah posing with both of them on Grandparents' Day. Photo courtesy: Grandma (another wonderful person in our lives)!

I am heading to bed to say my prayers of thanks. On my list is my little Sammy. Although he has not been on the same journey as his brother, we love him just as much. He is such a sweet, sassy, snuggly little boy.

Thank you for reading!

Corn Maze 2012

The little boys and I made our second annual trip to our local corn maze today. I have some pretty terrible memories from last year's trip, so today was totally wonderful! I was in a VERY. Very. Very bad place last year at this time. I remember struggling through major panic attacks and dizzy spells and having a very difficult time staying sane and upright (no joke). It made me appreciate our time here today even more than usual. I made certain that the boys experienced every little bit of fun that was possible! We had a wonderful day.

It's funny, Elijah can be such a difficult little person in so many areas. When we are out and about and when he is distracted by fun times, he is usually so compliant and perfect and obedient. It is always at home where we struggle.

And Sammy is in such a challenging little defiant stage right now. He hit me in the face a handful of times today when he didn't want to listen to Mama. He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. If I suggest anything to him or try to help him do anything at all, he freaks out. "NO! Sammy DO IT!" Ugh. It is ok to receive help sometimes, my precious boy!

Elijah and Sammy have been HUGE buds lately. They have this silly nonsense language that bonds them. "Mom, listen to Sammy! He just said, DEEDABOES!" HAhahahaha! And they laugh forever. They have started playing together much more often, and after we have put them to bed they talk to each other for at least 30 minutes before falling asleep. I love it. I have been waiting for this for so long.

Elijah LOVED this little hay maze today. He ran through it about 5 times, completely tiring himself out. Sammy wasn't a huge fan, which was fine with me. Trying to keep track of two running boys, only one of whose head I could see, would have been a challenge.

Potty with Elijah is going ok. We have tried a new approach because our last one obviously was no longer effective. Now when he has an accident, we put a diaper on him and tell him that he needs to "earn" back his underpants. So far, every time he has worked for it and gone potty all by himself to get out of the diaper. The first day we tried this, Dan heard him in the bathroom saying to himself, "I'm NOT a BABY!" He opened the door and tossed the diaper out and shut the door. We will see what happens. At this point I have no expectations. We continue to do our best and hope for the best.

Could Sammy look any more unhappy to be in the corn maze?! :) He had the same face last year.

Last year's theme was space, rockets and astronauts. This year there was a giant scarecrow that the boys posed next to.

"Hug your brother, Elijah!" 

The animal tent/petting zoo was fun. Sammy was fearless when it came to feeding the animals. Elijah liked the idea of feeding animals, but would not do it (he has never liked this).

The sheep wanted Sammy's food very badly. He couldn't hand it out fast enough.

Elijah thought this llama was "so cute and tall!"

The "little tractor" was a highlight for E!

While we ate a late lunch at home today, I asked the boys what their favorite part of the corn maze was. Elijah immediately blurted out, "Feeding the birds!" He loved the parakeet house. When the first bird landed on his feeding stick, he was elated. While this was happening, Sammy was in the corner of the house, on the floor, throwing a fit because he couldn't reach the handle to the door.

Elijah even had a second bird land on his stick!

We visited the pumpkin patch on our way to the parking lot.

For some reason, the boys had it in their heads that they had to kiss the pumpkins. ?!? 

Both boys got pumpkin face paintings today, too!

Modeling the face pumpkin..

We had a great day! Thank you, God, that I am in such a better place than last year at this time!

And I have to end with Elijah's outfit choice after bath tonight. :) Have a great week, everyone! Thank you so much for checking in.