Goodbye to kindergarten and third grade!

Since my last post, the boys have said their good-byes to kindergarten and third grade. I cannot beLIEVE this year is done. What in the world just happened?! Look at how grown up my little Sammy looks now!

We are so thankful for so many things from this school year, which is probably why it seemed to go so fast. It was EASY, especially compared to the previous two years. Both boys had amazing teachers, made friends, made tons of memories, went on field trips and adventures of many kinds and learned a ton. I swear Sammy is destined to be a mathematical genius and I cannot believe some of the equations he conjures up and solves. Both boys made tons of progress in so many areas this school year. We are so proud of them!

Elijah got his catheter from last week's surgery removed on Monday. It was a piece of cake taking it out and once he realized how "free" he felt, the look on his face was priceless. "I can swim?" "I can climb at the park??"

We found a PCA who has started coming to our house and helping to keep Elijah on track this week. She is great! I greatly appreciate the help. I think the boys are adjusting to the "no-schedule schedule" that summer always brings. It is nice not having so much structure, but it is also bad for Elijah as he thrives on that.

This week and next, Elijah has appointments with SIX different specialists for check-ups. One of those appointments came up a bit unexpectedly after the surgeon last week brought up the possibility of Elijah's spinal cord possibly being re-tethered. He had a tethered cord repair when he was 2 and we've always known it was possible that it could become tethered again. When she asked if he has experienced headaches or leg pain, Dan and I froze a bit. Both of those symptoms have popped up intermittently over the past 6-9 months with no explanation. So next week we will bring him in for an MRI which will tell us if his cord has indeed retethered. If it has....ugh. That first recovery was a toughie. But on the other hand, it could be the reason that potty training has dragged on and could also be an explanation for the strange random leg and head pains.

We've had a handful of showings on our house, but no real interest yet. We're praying hard for a sell within a week or two! We'll see what's in store. In the meantime, we are trying to make the most of our early summer weeks. We are making lots of trips to different parks. Tomorrow we may venture over to the pool. The boys are very excited about that.

I'll end with Sammy's most recent math problem he presented me with. On the way to an appointment yesterday he said, "Mommy, what is 6,400 plus 6,400?" In my head I was thinking, Goodness, there's no way he could figure that one out. I asked what he thought the answer was and he said, "Let's see... 4+4 is 8 and 6+6 is 12, so... 12,800!" !!!! Seriously?

Thanks for checking in! Have a great rest of your week!!

Our little teachers

Have I shown you the boys' haircuts yet? I don't think I've taken pictures of them since all their hair was chopped off! Here is the back of Sammy's head at his kindergarten music program last week..

Being in this small group was the only time he participated in actions. I suppose he figured that not participating when in the spotlight would make him the center of attention even more. When he was in the masses on the stands, he sang the songs but did NOT participate in hand or body movements. That's our Sammy! The cutest little bumblebee ever!

We have all been healing this week. I mean, I have been healing this week! Everyone else has been doing great! We are all super excited for our waterpark trip that begins tomorrow after school. This will be our sixth annual waterpark adventure!

Elijah has had another super week at school! We are so happy about the reports that have been coming home. I have been trying to spend as much time at school as possible and I like to think my hugs help.

Today after school we had Elijah's BFF over for the first time in a few weeks (due to the crazy sickness). She approached me privately and told me that there is another girl in their class who has been getting in the way of Elijah and A's friendship. Today at recess when A was pushing Elijah on the swings (how sweet is that??), this other little girl came up and said, "I'VE got this taken care of....you can leave, A." So after A told me this story I explained that Elijah truly cherishes their friendship and that she just needs to talk to him about this. So A said, "Elijah! I need to talk to you!" E said, "What did I do? Am I in trouble? Are you mad at me?" :) I sat on the sidelines and listened to their chat. A told him her concerns and Elijah replied in the most mature way I ever could have imagined. His response was better than anything I could have come up with! He said, "A....that other girl is my friend. I like her, but I don't like her as much as I like you. You are more important to me. Tomorrow I will talk to her and straighten everything out." She kinda sat speechless (as did I) and I jumped in and expressed how proud I was of both of them for communicating so well and sorting through an issue. It was awesome! I love that E and A are such great buds and that they complement each other so well.

For the past few mornings the boys have been playing "school" before Dan and I get out of bed. They are awake by 6:00 and either play quietly in their room or in the loft until 7:00 when we get breakfast ready. A few mornings ago I walked into a "classroom" where Elijah was teaching a handful of stuffed animals about sea creatures, while Sammy had a few students pulled out for reading. It was seriously the sweetest thing. I couldn't believe the organization involved and the dedication to the project. I took the above video later that afternoon....still dedicated to teaching their students!

If Sammy becomes bored in the morning before 7am, he has been coming to my side of the bed and asking to get into bed with me. This is NOT typical, but I have loved it. A few mornings ago he said, "Special DELIVERY! SAMMY SNUGGLES coming INNNNN!" Once I had my arms wrapped tightly around him in bed, he said, "Mommy? At the end of the day at school when we do circle-up, I'm going to say that my favorite part of the day was THIS. Snuggles with you are the BEST!" He always asks me to squeeze him tighter tighter TIGHTER!!!! This morning as I was squeezing as tightly as possible without suffocating him, I told him that I had to get in the shower. He said, "But you smell so good! PLEASE don't wash that delicious smell off you!" Oh that boy..he melts my mama heart.

Have a great rest of your week! We'll be back early next week!

New friends and MUCH to be thankful for!

The past week has FLOWN by! Holy cow! We have been working, schooling and everything in between. Over the weekend we had our sweet niece Alyssa over, did some baking, cooking and made it to small group. For the past week we all have been PRAYING that Elijah would survive being at small group with us (going to bed past 8pm). He struggled a little bit that night, but he did GREAT on the days that followed. Our prayers were answered!

On Saturday morning we went to a Hope Kids event at the Mall of America that we've gone to for the past few years...Cookies with Santa! The boys had a blast, as always. They made cookies, cards, ornaments and played video games, skee-ball and air hockey (Elijah is SO good at air hockey, we discovered!). They even got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they want for Christmas and thankfully their requests were reasonable.

I was able to spend the afternoon with Sammy in his class for Parents' Day today. We had fun! I love spending time with him in his classroom. He is such a good friend and student. Doesn't he look great in his turkey leg hat?? :)

There is a little boy in Sammy's class who he LOVES....and who loves him back. It is so sweet. This little boy reminds me a lot of Elijah. He just needs a little extra love and I am always so wanting to give it to him. R, Sammy and I make a good team. R hung out with us today and we had a great time together. At the end of the day Sammy and I got ready to grab Elijah from his classroom. R did NOT want us to leave. :( He kept hugging Sammy and saying, "Please don't leave!!!! Who is going to take care of me?!" It was sweet/sad. I believe Sammy is so patient with him because of his experience with Elijah. I LOVE that Sammy is such a kind and patient boy and that he is such a loyal friend!

Since it is a special holiday weekend night, we let the boys watch old-school Charlie Brown while munching on popcorn. They were in Heaven! Elijah even played the part of a pilgrim. :)

Speaking of friends, Elijah has a friend at school that he has been talking about ALL year. He has said things to me like, "Mommy, A is SOO nice to me. She is my best friend. She always makes me feel special." Well, coincidentally, we discovered that A's mom works with Dan! What a crazy coincidence! We had A over last Friday for pizza-movie night. The boys loved having her here. She is such a sweet and kind girl and it is obvious how much she loves Elijah (and vice versa). Today their class earned an afternoon party (allowing electronics), so A took this super-cute selfie of her and E with her cell phone. LOVE!!!

We are so excited that A and her mama will be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Both boys are beyond excited!

We have so much to be thankful for! We pray that YOU do, as well. Thanks for peeking in. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

School updates and boy funnies

I don't have anything specific or huge to report. We have had a mostly good past couple days. The weekend was nice since none of us were sick! We went to see a movie at the cheap theater and we cleaned (exciting!), went to church and to the club and hung out at home. Elijah's sleep has been good and bad and as always, the challenging periods come in spurts and they are usually related to potty issues. I received a heartbreaking call from his teacher today. A few kids in his class conspired and put a HIT ME sign on his back. :( Another kid stood up for him and told the other kids to take it off. It sounds like it was a fairly big ordeal. Parents were called and kids were talked to. I talked to Elijah about it very gently and he seemed sad about what had happened. Other than that and a few minor things here and there, things at school are going well for him. I am constantly reminding myself how far we have come and how much progress Elijah has made! It's pretty amazing, actually. I tell BOTH of my boys how proud I am of them all the time and I think it confuses Elijah to hear that because it has become so ingrained in him that he makes bad decisions (scars from the past two school years). I constantly try to remind him how much he has learned and about the good decisions he makes now.

Sammy is doing great in kindergarten! His sweet teacher has told us that he is very patient and kind and a hard worker and good friend. His handwriting and reading have improved SO MUCH since school began! He could read maybe 15 words starting the school year and now he can read at least 50. He will actually come home from school and create work sheets for himself and complete them. He has his first class field trip on Thursday and I'm so excited that I'll be able to go with him! Last week he got invited to a birthday party for a little boy in his class and it broke my heart when Elijah read the invitation and excitedly said, "Can we go, Mom?!" :( Sammy was able to go to the party and he had a blast. Such a blast that he woke me up at 3:00 the next morning to tell me that he wanted to go back. Seriously. Elijah was upset that he wasn't able to go along, but we arranged a Daddy-Elijah date during that same time and they had a great time.

I'll end with some boy funnies that I've been collecting. Thanks for checking in!

One night Sammy didn't want to eat dinner and kept trying to get Dan to take bites of his food so he would need to eat less and still get dessert. Sammy grabbed a name tag that was lying on the table near him and that Dan had worn at a recent conference and that had his name on it. Sam turned to me, held up the name tag and said, "Send this guy over here!"

After getting mad at me because I ONLY got Sammy a cookie at Subway and not a cookie AND chips he said, "You are NOT my favorite person." I quickly reminded him that we always need to be grateful for every little thing and he was silent for a few minutes. Then he whispered into my ear, "The word 'not' was actually supposed to be silent. I meant to say that you ARE my favorite person."

After giving Elijah after-school snuggles today as I do every day (usually upon his request) he said, "You're the greatest woman in the world. You're like a little good person!" :)

Dan: Elijah, if you had to pick ONE of the following which would you choose...the biggest lollipop ever OR a giant pool of chocolate?
Elijah: Hmmmmmm....wellllll....normally I'd choose both. (long pause) But if I had to pick one...hmmmm.....I'll pick the pool of chocolate.

Sammy's bedtime prayer one night last week: Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Thank you for Earth. Thank you for life. Thank you for my faaaaaavorite person in this family, whoooo iiiiizzzz.......(long dramatic pause)......my sweetest brother Elijah. Amen.

Sammy (calling from bed): Mommy! My toenail is rubbing on my sheets. Will you clip it?
Me (wielding clippers): Ok, which one is it?
Sammy: Foot ONE! Toe ONE!
Me: Would that be right foot, big toe?
Sammy: You got it, clipper woman!

Our presidential candidate

Due to our accumulating tiredness, we barely did a thing last weekend. We tried to catch up on sleep, but didn't get very far. For the past few nights, after multiple days of hugely cutting back on his sugar intake, Elijah has been sleeping better and later. I, however, am now getting up before 6:00 to get to work by 7:00! I'll be working in Cannon Falls 4 days/week for the next couple months. Dan will have to man the morning fort and get the boys on the bus before heading to work. I will be home in the afternoon to get them off and I'll man the late afternoon/evening routine! 

Last Thursday night Elijah told me that he was running for third grade student council and that he was doing so THE FOLLOWING DAY. We scrambled to get a poster partially made and I sent him to school hoping he'd follow through. After a little bit of encouragement from his teacher, he stood up in front of his class and gave a speech! We are so proud! His teacher said that he did GREAT. He didn't win, but he did receive a few votes! Yay Elijah!

For almost a week now, Elijah has been taking 18mg of Strattera (a slight increase from 15mg) and I think it's a great dose for him. Overall, his behavior and attitude have been great! There are still specific issues that we're constantly working on, but we are so happy with this medication. His days at school have been mostly positive, as well. His case manager has described at least three of his days in the past week as being "AMAZING." Last year at this time, nothing was amazing.

Sammy is doing great in kindergarten. I imagine he's probably the perfect little student. I have gone into his class to volunteer a couple times and he is so cute and sweet and kind. I love it!

That is all for now! Gotta work so I can get to sleep early. Thanks for stopping by.

Second week of school...success!

The second week of school is done! Both boys have been doing great. Sammy has been dutifully picking up litter in his classroom, just as he does everywhere we go. :) Elijah has been continuing to show maturity this week, which is in my opinion in HUGE part to meds. Being used to the way things were last year, I find that I brace myself in certain situations only to find that I can relax. Example: homework! He and I have sat down three times together so far this school year and completed BIG math sheets with at most one mild complaint. Last year there would have been 50 complaints and he would have scribbled over and eventually crumpled up the paper. As was the case during the summer, his threshold seems to be so much bigger. He can handle a full day of school and therapy and homework and not be totally overwhelmed. PRAYING this continues!

I took E to see Dr. M (developmental ped) this week and he was happy to hear how Elijah was responding to the meds. He told me that just observing him in the office he seemed calmer and less distracted. We are going to try a VERY tiny dosage increase in a few weeks. We are also continuing with talk/skills therapy and Dr. M was on board with everything we are doing. We are also having someone come to our home on Monday to do an assessment for in-home skills/behavioral therapy. I'm feeling super hopeful about this because so much of what Elijah needs assistance with occurs in our home and typically in the late afternoon/evening. In addition to being his LUCKY mom, I am also his behavioral/social skills coach and it would be SO helpful to get some help with this!

And of course that's not all! :) Elijah's urethral surgery is scheduled for next Friday, but Dr. R asked that we have pre-op done a week in advance in order to get results from his urinalysis in time. Today I got a call from his primary doctor with the news that Elijah's preliminary cultures showed that he has a UTI! Today we started him on a 10-day course of antibiotics and that likely will push surgery back by a bit (we'll know for sure on Monday).

It's always something, but I want to say that the constant "action" in our lives does not bring us down. Aside from HATING the pain and anxiety Elijah has to constantly endure, we do remember that THIS IS OUR JOURNEY (not just Elijah's, but OURS..we're always right there with him). It's useless to fight what God has in store for us. If we did, we'd be miserable!

I was able to spend a bit of time in Sammy's classroom this week and it was so much fun to see him in that setting. He is thriving and growing and doing so well. I am so proud of my sweet boy! He has been a bit more tired than usual, but he has eagerly gotten onto the bus every morning and hasn't complained about a thing. He adores his sweet teacher (she is the BEST!) and talks kindly about his new friends. He literally has not said a single negative thing about school.

Today we made our yearly trip to the corn maze as a family and we had so much fun! It was our warmest year to date. I of course have tons of photos to share. Next post! Thanks for reading!

First week of school done and a surgery on the horizon

We all survived the first week of school, phew! I shed far too many tears this week. My days felt empty without Sammy by my side, holding my hand everywhere I went. But I knew he was safe at school with the BEST teacher and having a great time and that put a smile on my face. Elijah had a great week at school, too! He had some blurt-outs, but as far as I've heard nothing worse than that went down. In fact, some really amazing things transpired with him. Things I NEVER thought would happen on this first week of school. During the first two days of school he completed two math sheets (one of them with 56 problems on a page!) WITHOUT COMPLAINT. Uhh...wha?! Last year when a math sheet even touched his desk it immediately got crumpled and thrown across the room. I was so darn proud that I gave him a bit of incentive (uh, bribery) to continue with this. I offered an Inside Out stuffed animal on Friday after school if he could complete one math sheet per day without complaint. He did it!

Sammy has really done SO well this week. I give that boy major props for holding his stuff together so well. He hopped onto the bus happily every day and he hopped off happily every afternoon. He eagerly told me details about his day and seemed genuinely excited about going back again. This morning when we were getting ready for breakfast, I could see that Sammy was on the verge of losing it. I think the craziness of the week had finally gotten to him. He sat on the floor of our kitchen, staring at our pantry and literally SOBBING because I told him he could not eat fruit snacks for breakfast. He would not budge from that spot and continued to cry. Finally I grabbed him and hugged him tight and rubbed his back and told him that I understood. School is tiring! It's been a week filled with change! And I told him I was very proud of him. After a few minutes he completely switched gears, got dressed, ate breakfast and was ready to hop on the bus again! By the way, Sammy got an Inside Out stuffed animal, too. :)

There was another major success with Elijah this week at school. There is a kid in his class who was a major antagonist in his first grade class. This kid...ugh. He preys on Elijah's weaknesses and vulnerabilities and instigates trouble. He knows that Elijah is prone to doing things like blurting out potty words or screaming when frustrated, so he will approach him and say, "Elijah, say a potty word as loud as you can!" In first grade, Elijah always did what he said and of course ended up getting into trouble. This year, after seeing this boy's name on a locker at open house, I began coaching Elijah and  doing some role playing. On day #2, Elijah got off the bus and proudly told me that this boy had urged him to "scream as loud as you can!" E told him, "NO!" and turned the other way. This is hugely hugely awesome.

We have had some medical developments this week, as well. Elijah had two routine specialist appointments, one with urology and the other with ENT. We have known that the urology surgery from last November hasn't worked, but we did not expect to alarm the doctor quite so much. Another surgery is necessary and SOON! He wanted to do surgery as early as Monday! I choked and began coughing and asked if we could maybe wait till the following week. So Elijah will have a urethral dilation on September 25th. The surgery itself is not major or worrisome, but what we have to do at home with him every day afterward for SIX MONTHS is worrisome. Let's just say major painful things in that region. :(

Today Elijah got a hearing test and we chatted with Dr. L. His hearing is the same as it was 6 months ago...mild hearing loss in left ear with a spike into normal hearing in higher decibels. YAY! And an improvement even from last time...his ear drum now moves when air is blown into the ear (before it wouldn't budge). Dr. L said AGAIN that he never ever ever ever would have anticipated this outcome for Elijah. In standard fashion, he referred to E as an "evil genius" and walked away scratching his head. In a good way!

I'm super excited about tomorrow because we will be getting together with two new friends (one in the am and one in the pm) who we have recently met. We are excited about the opportunity for new friendships and connections!

Phew, here's to another FULL week almost done. Looking forward to what next week has in store!

Hello to third grade and kindergarten!

I figured out today that this is Elijah's seventh year of school. That is crazy! I remember putting him on a bus on his third birthday and feeling like my limbs had all just been chopped off as it drove away from me. He was sooo little, could barely say his name and was totally dependent on other people. Now he seems like such a big boy and so seasoned when it comes to school. The boy I worried most about today was my little Sammy. Time moved soooo slowly today. I could hardly stand being apart from him and wanted him here with me so badly.

But I just knew he was enjoying his day. I could feel it in my heart and was so happy about that thought. His teacher sent me an email toward the end of the day saying what a great day he had. Yay!

According to Elijah, he felt he had a great day, as well!

Super LOVE this pic...

I NEVER thought it would be so difficult to put my sweet little kindergartener and his bro onto a BIG bus and trust other people to take care of them outside of the school building. Before we left home today, I talked to the boys about the kissing hand and laid a big smooch into the palms of their hands. I told them that if they ever felt sad or lonely throughout the day, to place their smooched-on hands to their cheeks. Then..while at the bus stop, Sammy reached for my hand and kissed it. "Mommy? This is MY kissing hand smooch. If YOU feel lonely today, put your hand to your cheek." Such a sweet, thoughtful boy.

Elijah has a few medical appointments this week, but otherwise not much else is going on. Thanks for peeking in on our cuties! xo

State Fair 2015 and preparing for a new school year!

Another full week has passed! It was fun having my mom here for a few days. The boys were ALL over her and I think they made her head spin a bit. :) We said goodbye on Wednesday as she hopped on a plane to go back to Palm Springs. Dan got back from a long work trip and we made it to open house to visit both boys' new classrooms. Sammy is finally excited for school. He was so cutely excited to have a locker that has his name on it and to check out his new classroom. I think he is going to have a super fun year. Elijah's teacher seems AWESOME and we feel like she will be a great fit for him. Dan and I sat down with her this week for a few minutes and gave her the insight that we thought would be helpful before jumping into the year.

Meds update: We have been going up and down and up and down with dosage because neither 10mg or 20mg has seemed right for E. This week I decided just to deconstruct the capsules and give him what would be around 15mg every morning. We had some SUPER rough days this week, but I feel in my gut like we need to stick with this dose for at least a week before making changes. Just about every 2 seconds I whisper a prayer to myself that we will find the magic dose before school begins. Please, God.

We squeezed in a trip to the Minnesota State Fair this week and we hit all of our favorite food stands and rides. As always, the day went super fast. We love our yearly family State Fair day!

Sammy posing like the "Statue of Liverty" with a cold glass of milk. :)

He was so excited to pet a cow ("Cowwy's family!").

Traditional oink booth crown photo.

Love these two oink booth cuties.

You'd never know that 2 seconds before this photo was taken Elijah was head-butting his brother. Ugh. That switch can go on and off in the blink of an eye.

Posing with their loot!

Wishing you all a fun and safe Labor Day weekend! Thanks for peeking in!

A few random things about today

- Elijah dunked his head under water FIVE times today during swim lessons! His teacher was sooooo shocked and excited. Brave boy.

- I took Sammy to kindergarten intake today and he did great. He was so stinkin' cute. He is certainly ready for school.

- While Elijah was in OT, Sammy and I ran out to the post office. On our way to the car, he started running quickly down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of our car. I yelled, "Sammy?! Where are you going?" He yelled over his shoulder, "Don't worry! I'm just takin' a long-cut!"

- The boys have been talking about the two high school graduation parties they went to on Saturday with Dan while I was shooting a wedding. I noticed today that instead of "graduation," they have been saying "congraduation." I like it!

- The boys were playing "doctor" with me tonight. Sammy was my doctor and Elijah was my mom. Sammy gave me about 10 shots and then went to test my reflexes and said, "Ok, I'm going to hit you REALLY hard now!" :) Elijah said, "Umm, I think you're a REALLY bad doctor!"

- We had mostly really great behavior today with just a few hiccups. I'll take it!

A week of newness

I feel like this past week has been packed with activity and new things. On Monday Elijah started back at school for the first time since mid-December (minus one day in January). He was sooooo super excited about going back. He was beginning to miss his teacher and friends. Things seem to be going well so far. His class went on a field trip today to a nature center. I went along and we had fun. It was freezing cold, but it was nice to do something different. Elijah did struggle a bit so I was glad I came along. All of the activity was hard for him to process, and the cold weather and all of the walking didn't help. It's good for him to push himself a bit in every capacity once in a while! I'm hoping he will sleep really well tonight.

I'll say this for the millionth time..his teacher is INCREDIBLE. She understood that I would not have resources to dedicate to other children, so I was not responsible for anyone except Elijah. This was super helpful, and I'll admit I almost didn't want to go on the field trip because of the traumatic field-tripping experiences from last year! The little girls in E's class LOVE him. It is so cute! There is one little girl who asked him to sit by her on both bus rides. She even snubbed one of her friends, grabbed onto E's hand and said, "Sorry, I'm sitting with Elijah!" They snuggled so cutely and closely (and innocently) that my heart almost melted. I chatted with this little girl a bit and she is just the sweetest thing. I thanked her for being so kind to Elijah and she said, "No problem. I like Elijah! He makes me smile." :)

E's teacher and I had a good chat on the bus ride to the nature center. I told her about recent developments and for the first time (maybe because we weren't sitting at a conference table with ten other people), I felt like she really understood. She just seemed to get it. She intimated that if we asked enough times, and articulated ourselves well enough, Elijah could probably get his very own aide. So I will start this process tomorrow. It would help him immensely to have someone with him at all times while at school.

On Monday I brought E to see Dr. M, his developmental pediatrician and one of the best doctors on the planet, in my opinion. He took tons of time with us and asked a lot of questions. He is another one of the GREATS who understands our boy through and through. He agreed with the recent thoughts of the new sleep doctor and thinks we should try anxiety meds. I always love the analogies he makes. He said that for Elijah, every little thing that happens is the straw that broke the camel's back. He heard my worries about E's sensitivities to meds, but urged us to at least consider it. As he said, if we can possibly find a good fit for him, it could muscle the weight of some of the other, many straws. So...Dr. M very carefully selected an anxiety med for E to try. Dan has been on board with trying something for a while, but I really wrestled with it. Starting yesterday we began giving him a super-duper small daily dose of fluoxetine. Now...we wait. Last night he slept better than we have EVER seen, but that could be just a fluke. Who ever knows?! Time will tell.

I brought Sammy to kindergarten registration last night! It is sooo hard to believe my sweet baby boy will be going to school next year. :( I was pleased and somewhat surprised that he entered the building willingly (by the way, he has stopped getting into the pool for swim lessons). He seemed excited about the idea of being in the same school as Elijah next year. We stopped in a few classrooms, one of them (the above pic) was the class I am really hoping he will be in next year. Elijah had Mrs. H in kindergarten and she is incredible!

I'll end with a few cute things..

A few weeks ago I decided that these boys need to earn their technology time. No more just handing it out willy nilly! Each boy needs to earn FIVE "chore points" in order to earn 15 minutes of technology (iPad is usually their pick). Chore points can be earned by feeding the fish, taking out garbage/recycling, getting completely dressed with no help or complaining, helping with meals, cleaning up toys, etc. I've never had such a clean house! Elijah is even willing to dust our entire TV stand for a chore point. Win-win! Sammy is Mr. Helper lately with meals. He wants to help prepare all meals and he fills up his and Elijah's plates with food and brings them to the table with pride.

Any time I ask Sam, "Okay, Sammy?" he will say, "NO-kay," if he does not agree. :)

There's so much more, but my brain is tired! More later!

Pushing through!

This week seemed like a loooong week. We have three kinds of days lately....ok, rough and really rough. Today was rough. There was a lot of name-calling and icky words/tones. At times I have had to raise my voice because otherwise nobody would hear me! Then Elijah screams, "STOP YELLING AT ME!" Then Sammy bosses Elijah around and Elijah screams, "STOP BEING BOSSY!" Repeat repeat repeat. Yelling, name-calling, screaming, etc.. :(

I was thankful that my sister-in-law offered to have both boys over to her house for a few hours this afternoon. I drove straight back home and sat on the couch and basically did nothing for two hours. I pulled Pinterest up on the iPad and vegged on the couch. It was awesome.

Homebound schooling did not start this week (hopefully next week?), so I have been doing my own tutoring at home with Elijah. It has been a struggle getting him to sit down to do 45 minutes of school work every day, but we are making progress! I came up with a sneaky plan where I place 10 small candies in a bowl in front of him. Every time E whines/complains about doing work, I eat one of the candies. He can have whatever is left at the end of the session. To foster Sammy encouraging Elijah to do well, S gets the same number of candies that E does at the end. Neither boys got any candies for the first three days. Yesterday they got three and today they each got five. Progress!

I brought Sammy to his kindergarten screening today. Awww, my sweet little guy was so apprehensive about the whole ordeal. We were only there for 30 minutes and it was a piece of cake, but being in a school was overwhelming for him. His main issue in kindergarten is going to be separation anxiety. Everything else is great! He did super on all of the "testing" today. One of the ladies who tested him was someone from the special education program who used to come to our home every week to help Elijah when he was a baby! It was so good to see her. She had last seen Sam when he was six months old and she couldn't get over how grown up and sweet he was! She said a couple times, "I wonder if Elijah remembers me? He was such a sweet baby!"

Sammy has shown signs of anxiety lately and I hope it is just a four-year-old thing. He is worried about tornadoes, losing his parents and "bad guys" stealing him from his home. If you knew me as a child, you are now chuckling! He is definitely my sweet, sensitive, worried little boy who needs to feel safe and secure. We are doing our best! We love that boy so much!

We are heading into the weekend tired but praying for a bit of restoration for all of us. Soon, right? Soon Elijah just has to start sleeping better. Have a great weekend and thank you for peeking in!

I'll wrap up with a screenshot of one of Elijah's recent nights of sleep, as tracked by the amazing FitBit. Blue is "asleep" and red is "awake." Ugh..

So long, kindergarten

Elijah is finished with kindergarten, and that has made me really sad! I didn't expect to feel this way at all. Just like that we are done with his sweet and incredibly awesome kindergarten teachers. And with his awesome bus drivers who we grew to love so much. And with the stories Elijah would bring home from school. He seems like such a big boy. As you can see in the photo, he (and Sammy, too) changed a ton from the beginning of the school year. At least Sammy has learned how to put his shoes on since then. :)

This morning as we were walking out of the club, I noticed that Elijah was holding my hand extra tight. If I had to let go to open a door, he would quickly grab for it again. I'm happy he's still "little" in the sense that he enjoys being associated with me in public! I hope that lasts for a while longer.

I have been observing Elijah a lot lately and making careful mental notes about his behaviors, actions and reactions to certain things. I have formed some thoughts that have given me a feeling of peace during times that are very frustrating. I'm not done collecting my data, but I'll report back. :) Let's just say that I have much more grace for certain frustrating, repetitive and obsessive behaviors.

And speaking of that, if you have been reading this blog for a while you will know how big my sigh must have been after the following conversation that took place this morning:

Me: Sammy, you are 3 now so that means you need to start going potty in the toilet!
Sammy: No, I don't need to do that until I'm 9.
Me: Uhm, no, how about now. And with a good attitude.
Sammy: Nooo, when I'm 9. And with a bad attitude.

This is the same boy who refused to willingly get into the bath tub for TWO YEARS because....well, because it was our idea. He has had the same attitude with the good ol' toilet. Kicking, screaming, flailing, the whole works. In the past year we have done our best to set it up so that it appears to be his idea. With no luck. After the above conversation, I said, "Sammy. This is GOING to happen." And so we endured the kicking, screaming and flailing. By the fifth try, he was only kicking so I saw that as a promising sign. To be continued!

That's all for now. Have a good day! It's raining, cloudy and cold! Again! [insert crazy laughter]

Boy tidbits

It has been cold and rainy all week and we feel like we've been catapulted back into winter. It's a bit depressing, but we are looking forward to HOT days ahead! The boys haven't been held back by the rain. "MOM! Can we PLEASE play in the rain?" We have been cooped up for so long this winter that I have no objections to that request. Go! Splash around!

I wanted to write down a few precious memories before I forget them. Some are funny and some not so funny. Starting with the not so funny..

I haven't written an update on this in a long time, but we are still working on potty issues with E. We are in a MUCH better place than we were a year ago, but there is still progress to be made. Unfortunately, Sammy has seen the chaos that has surrounded anything potty-related so that combined with his very independent nature has caused him to be 100% against sitting on a toilet. It is a little bit maddening, but as always we are doing our best as his parents and trying to be patient. When both of these boys are potty trained, Dan and I will invite you all over for a huge POTTY PARTY. I'm not kidding. Mark your calendars for 2016.

Sammy and Elijah are the best of buds right now. It is wonderful (when they aren't fighting, ha!). They do pretend play a lot and have so much fun together. Elijah has a lot of grace with Sammy's independence. Sammy tends to boss him around a bit, and as long as he doesn't steal E's toys away from him they can play in peace for quite a while. Every once in a while they root against each other and we have to separate them. We often hear silly names being thrown around. Sammy refers to Elijah as "Blueberry" and E refers back to him as "Strawberry." In the past few days, I have been called, "Mr. Hoo-Shay," "Mr. Lopart" and many other silly names. These boys are silly!

Elijah is finishing up his kindergarten year, which seems crazy. He has had a really great year, minus a few little hiccups. His teachers, therapists and bus drivers ADORE him. Starting about a month ago, when I would get him off the bus his (very awesome) bus driver and (very awesome) bus aide would be loudly singing songs with him. They were variations of: "DO YOU WANT SOME PIZZA (INSERT ANY WORD HERE)....WAAH-OOOOO!" So the other day Elijah sat down and drew them each a picture with a funny "Waah-oooo!" saying underneath. Today when I got him off the bus, his bus driver showed me that they had hung his drawings on the front of the bus and said, "Now we can think of him all the time!" This boy makes people smile!

Sammy adores his stuffed animals, particularly his cow ("Cowwy Cow Cow Can Cow") and his frog ("Froggy"). He does a lot of pretend play with them, too. Cowwy and Froggy often scream and hit and need to be put in time-outs. Or one of them will burp loudly (Sammy has a sound for this that is very very cute). When Sam is being disciplined, he will tearfully cry out for either Cowwy or Froggy, who he feels will save him from his "harsh" punishment.

Compared to his brother, Sammy is super sensitive and way more empathetic to other people. If any of us expresses pain or sadness, he will bring us his blankie (his most precious possession) and pat our backs. "Are you sad, Mama? Here's blankie!" We have two very different boys, which is a huge blessing and so much fun. We love them both so much.

I will stop here for now! Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful week!

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!

More silliness coming from the kindergartener's mouth

Elijah finished up his first week of kindergarten, and everything seemed to go well. I am assuming I would have gotten a call if he had been unkind or disrespectful in any way! :)

I mainly wanted to post a few more of Elijah's silly sayings, and one not-so-silly saying (I posted these on Facebook over the past week):

Elijah: "Mama, do you know how much I love you?"
Me: "How much, sweet boy?"
E: "I love you the whole world!"
Me: "Awwww, I love you the whole world, too!"
E: "Yeahh. I love you, kiddo."

Elijah: "Good morning, cute honey!"
And to Dan as he was leaving for the dz: "Bye Dad! Welcome back to your room!"

This one did not make me laugh. :(
E: When do I get to meet my new mommy?
Me: [gasping] WHAT?!
E: My new mommy in my new house!
Me: [speechless]
E: I want a new mommy.
Me: [sad and speechless]

Elijah told me I was the carrot in his bowl of vegetables. He's not a huge fan of carrots...or any vegetables, really. Think I'm seeing a theme here..

E had some gems one day last week before nap-time:
"Mama, you are the peas in my pantry." 
"You are the eyeball in my dessert."
"You are the chocolate cookie in my factory."
And the best one of all..
"You are the music dancing in my radio."

Elijah, on his first day of school: "It is Tuesday, September four, and it is mine first day of kindergarten!" :)
He chose his own outfit, got dressed by himself and got on the yellow bus with a smile (while I cried).

A little suspicious of this "John" kid from E's kindergarten class. The first thing E told me about the first two days after school was that John wouldn't stop talking during circle time and that he got time-outs from the teachers. Please God, do not let "John" be an alias for "Elijah."

"Mama, you are a light bulb in my closet full of light bulbs."
"Hmm, that must make me really special.."

"You are a gently galloping mom, and you are ODDLY cute!"
Thanks, Elijah. :)

Sammy got a haircut!

The following is further proof that I have the best husband in the world..

Early this morning, as I was preparing for a day with the little boys, Dan hugged me and said, "You are going to go take a nap and then work for a few hours and after that you and I will be having a lunch date." !!! What a perfect and totally unexpected surprise!

The skydiving plane was in for routine maintenance today, so Dan had a random day free! Weee! I accomplished tasks in the morning (a very good thing) and then Dan and I brought the boys to daycare for a few hours. We went out for lunch and after that we sat and stared at a peaceful lake for over an hour. It was awesome.

The weather was beautiful this evening, so we spent some time outside as a family. I got my camera out because I wanted to take pictures of Sammy's new haircut!

Elijah's hair was photo-worthy, too!

Elijah's second day of kindergarten seemed to go well. He provides us with very selective information, so we are assuming he is treating his peers and teachers properly. Please, God.

The first thing he has told me both days has been about "John," the little boy who talks too much and doesn't listen during circle time. I had the thought today that "John" could be Elijah's alter-ego. Only I, the mother of Elijah Daniel Porta, would have this thought. I am praying that John is real. :)

E is LOVING the bus and everything surrounding the topic of school. This boy thrives in the school setting. We are so happy for this!

Depending on the skydiving plane, Dan may or may not have another day at home with us tomorrow. That is both a great and a bad thing. Money vs. family time!

E had a great potty day, which we are very thankful for. We are hoping this continues for the next 40,000 days.

That's all I have tonight! Thanks for checking in, friends. Enjoy the rest of the handsome-boy pics...

A DZ weekend and KINDERGARTEN!

We had a very busy and tiring (but GOOD!) long weekend. We spent two nights at the dropzone in our cozy trailer and hanging out with Daddy and our wonderful skydiving family. The boys played hard, and Dan worked hard.

Skydiving is obviously the main purpose of the dropzone, but there is so much more to it than that. It is a place of peace and passion for Dan and me. After dark, we chat with friends and have bonfires and talk about skydiving. We love this little piece of our lives! I even learned to shoot a gun last weekend! Fun!

The boys play so hard when we are at the dz. They are fortunate to have some really good pals there, whose parents we happen to love. Sammy and Myla are just a few months apart and have a cute little bond. Sam asks about Myla ALL THE TIME. "Where's MYLA?!" :)

The twins are just the sweetest little things. The boys are so sweet with them, and Dan and I adore their parents.

This past weekend we even got a visit from my cousin Trevor and his kids! Here is the beautiful Veda, posing very cutely with Elijah. Is this not the cutest photo ever?!

We got home from the dz yesterday and we were all totally beat.

We woke up today ready to start kindergarten! It seems impossible that Elijah is old enough to be a kindergartener! It was a strange day, both happy and sad.

(Can you tell Sammy put his own shoes on?)

Today was a big day for all of us! We are happy and proud that Elijah has come so far. Three years ago he wasn't talking or walking, and today he is reading, writing and out-scheming his parents.

Since Elijah is still on an IEP, he is still considered "special education." I am grateful for this for many reasons, one of them being that he gets to ride a special little bus that comes directly to the end of our driveway. I had been worrying about him riding the "big" bus. I think he is just too small! Dan and I are both very happy and grateful to have this special bus service. It is a huge relief!

Elijah happily got on the little yellow bus with no problem this morning. I am constantly amazed at his ability to be ready for the next adventure. Once he was in his seat I was fighting back MAJOR tears. I could see him through his window, and I waved to him. I held up my hand and did the "I love you" sign, and he did it back to me. That is when the tears started to flow. I love my big, brave boy!

Thanks to this special bus of his (there is even an aide on board to help buckle him in and look after the kids), this aspect of school was a non-issue for me today. We have been putting him on a little bus since he was 3, so thankfully I got that worrying out of the way long ago.

I have tried hard not to focus on the fact that we had potty issues today.  

Here is the information I was able to gather from Elijah about his first day:

His very special friend from preschool, Laura (Woe-yuh), is in his class! YAY! But...when I asked him if he talked to her, he said, "No. But she is so cute!" Uh oh.

He told me that "John was really loud during circle time. The teacher had to tell him to be quiet. He did not stop talking." Then he told me that he was good during circle time. :)

He got to go outside for recess and he swung on the swings and played with his new friends, Sam and Kayla (or Cara, I couldn't tell which).

He said that his teachers were really nice and that they told him they loved his shirt. :)

(I think Sammy felt a bit in the shadows this morning...)

Elijah has not been saying the nicest things to me lately. My least favorite being "I want a new mommy," which makes my heart hurt so very badly. Of course I know that he is five years old and doesn't know what he is saying and how much it hurts. But it does sting!

He pretty much made up for all of that today. After he got home, he started spouting off the nicest things he could ever say to me. 

"Mama, you are my bestest friend!"

"I love you the entire world!"

"I love you very, very much!"

Those things are good for a mama's heart. 

He didn't seem overly tired after school today, which surprised me. I guess compared to a few days at the dropzone, kindergarten is nothing! He seemed to thoroughly enjoy his day, and he is ready to do it again tomorrow.

We had potty struggles today (thankfully not at school), but I want to point out the positive points of this! Once he goes potty in his pants, his only remaining privileges for the rest of the day are reading and practicing his writing. So we have noticed (after multiple days of losing privileges) that his writing is getting really good! Reading, too.

Dan was home today, so I was able to take a GIANT nap. Despite that, I feel a bit emotionally drained. This transition into kindergarten is an emotional one! It is a big step for our boy, and all of us. Here we go, Kindergarten!!

Thank you for checking in! Wishing you all a wonderful week!