Blue skies

It's Sunday night! These summer weeks keep flying right on by. The little boys and I arrived home from the dropzone a few hours ago. We spent the weekend there, waiting on clouds to clear from the humid sky. My heart mama friend Amber (her house was one of the ones the boys and I stayed at on our big road trip last summer) and her oldest son Caleb drove all the way from Indiana to go skydiving with my awesome and super-cute hubby, Dan!

Saturday was frustrating. Low, solid clouds hung around all day long. Then at the verrrry end of the day the clouds parted above us. But the pilot had left! This morning we saw much of the same. Low clouds loomed overhead until 1:00 when they parted and Amber and Caleb were able to go skydiving! Yayyy! Afterward they sped off toward home with adrenaline running through their veins. 

It felt so good to spend time with this awesome friend. She is an incredible woman, mother and friend. We have traveled such similar paths in so many ways, so there is that bond that cannot be explained. Just like skydiving.

We have one week left of summer, so we plan to make the most of it! State Fair and time with my little boys lie ahead. I hope you all had a great weekend! Enjoy these last HOT bits of summer!

Posing with T-Rex

Here are a few pics from last week when E's kindergarten teacher made a skydive! Can you tell Elijah loves her? (Oops, Koda the dog photo-bombed this one.)

Time for silly faces?! :)

See that spot in the sky? That's Dan and Jen! Her hubby and sweet baby girl were watching them closely.

Perfect sunset landing! 

And today we took a totally impromptu trip to Valleyfair! The other night I remembered that one of the very generous gifts we have been given as a Wish Family is a year's worth of free admission (1x at each place) to MANY amusement parks across the country. Since there aren't many days left in the summer that could work, Dan and I decided we would go to Valleyfair today...at the very last minute. Thank you, GKTW! The boys were sooooo excited. They were squealing and jumping up and down when we told them where we were going. It was their first time ever! We live a few miles from VF, so we've seen it many many times but have just never gone as a family.

We were given a few "extras," as GKTW is known to do. Elijah got a Snoopy stuffed animal and we also got access into the Dinosaurs Attack part of the park. Sam was afraid of some of it, but the boys seemed to enjoy it overall.

Here are my three boys, totally unique in their responses to "Pose in front of the T-Rex for me!"

Elijah: ALL SMILES and totally agreeable as he poses perfectly, looking straight at the camera. (my literal guy)

Sammy: Puts his hands in front of his face as he says, "NEVER EVER." (my independent guy)

Dan: Makes fun of the poor T-Rex's short arms. :)  (my silly guy)

We explored Planet Snoopy and the boys were able to ride a lot of the rides in that area. They had such a blast! We will try to get to VF as a family once/year.

Whoa, what?! Sammy actually posed with Elijah and Snoopy?? This was a small miracle and I was downright shocked as I took this photo. Notice the lump in his cheek? Yeah, that's a mini donut.

The ferris wheel was one of Sammy's picks and he LOVED it. We love riding this ride together as a family whenever we see one. Elijah's analysis of the VF version: "It's pretty slow, but it was fun."

Elijah was super excited to see the T-Rex and wanted to pose with the sign. He was very interested in learning about where each dinosaur lived. "Ohhh! This one lived in Asia, Mom!" "Hmm, he was from Utah!" "Oh my, this guy lived in BRAZIL!"

Dan and I analyzed every little thing about Elijah today. After 30 minutes of being at the park he appeared overwhelmed, confused and exhausted from all of the different stimuli bombarding his brain. We both saw it and adjusted our behavior a bit to try to help. At one point we were waiting to get on the ferris wheel and Elijah started screaming about the line (there were 2 people in front of us) and how long it was and how long it was going to take and on and on. Then he said, "Give me a Mama Mountain!" This is his way of telling me that he wants me to give him a piggy-back ride. We weren't even moving and there was nowhere for us to go, so I calmly told him that it wasn't an appropriate time to do a Mama Mountain. He has been asking for these quite a bit lately at very random times, so Dan and I chatted quick while standing in line and concluded that maybe he just wanted to be physically close (safe) when he feels out of control. From that point on, I started giving him big squeezes/hugs whenever I could. I think it helped because overall he did GREAT today. He started to unravel a few times, but pulled it together and did so well. Dan and I were both super impressed and surprised at the end of the day. He even made it to PT/OT in the late afternoon and had great behavior there, as well. Success!

We ended our time at Valleyfair by stopping by the age-guessing booth. I always stump them and I win an animal for the boys every single time. :)

We have E's second Fraser appointment tomorrow! Also a bit of fun and work and errands, etc. Thanks for checking in!

Burning eyeballs

We must be super busy because I haven't had a free moment to sit down and write a post! My dad and stepmom were able to spend the entire day with the boys on Saturday while Dan and I worked. They had a blast together, playing, going to the park, getting hair cuts, getting new books at the book store and building Lego creations. We had to say good-bye yesterday morning as they headed back toward North Carolina. :( Both boys have been talking a lot about how much they miss Grammie and Gramps. It is always so sad to say good-bye.

I took pics at a wedding on Saturday and have been totally wiped out since. It is tough business! But sooo much fun, too. I love how every wedding is similar, yet so different. Each one has its own unique story and people and traditions and details. Despite the blisters on my feet and burning eyeballs, I love my job.

Elijah's kindergarten teacher came to the dropzone last week to make a skydive! She had a blast! It was so fun to see the big happy grin on her face when she landed. Jumping out of an airplane is such a unique experience and it is something that is impossible to describe in words. I always love seeing the so-THAT'S-what-it's-like look on people's faces when they land.

Dan has been working since Thursday and the boys and I have kind of just been scraping by these past couple days. I've been exhausted, so we are doing bits of laundry and cleaning, taking trips to the park and running errands. Dan has the next two days off, so I'm hoping for some catch-up!

We have been continuing to learn about how Elijah processes information as second grade draws near. In a way I'm afraid to start the year but at the same time I'm eager to just get going! In the next week or so I plan to write up a bulleted report for E's team. I want to explain NLD in a nutshell since not too many people seem familiar with it. I also want to write out Elijah's warning signs for being overwhelmed/confused and give suggestions about things that might help if he gets off track. The bottom line is that he needs to feel safe and acting out is his way of letting us know that. I have a few things I've been trying that seem to help distract him. I'm hoping we can give his teacher enough info before the year begins to be helpful!

E's follow-up appointment with Dr. L (ENT) went fine last week. He saw a bit of "granulation" in his ear, which is apparently just a bit of redness and fairly normal after ear surgery. We're doing ear drops for 2 weeks and a hearing test mid-Sept. The first Fraser appointment went great. Appointment #2 is Wednesday.

Thank you for peeking in and I hope you all have a great week!

Knees in the breeze

The boys and I spent two nights at the dropzone with our daddy/hubby this weekend and it was sooooo good for all of us. The boys loved their time there, as always. Elijah slept GREAT, which was wonderful (Sammy, too, of course). The boys were able to play with friends and run around the perimeter of the hangar approximately 8,000 times. We spent quality time with our amazing friends and that was a big highlight. We adore our skydiving family to pieces!

On Sunday night, after the boys were asleep and the tandems were finished for the day, Dan asked me for the 1,000th time if I would do a tandem jump with him. I have said "NO!" 999 times before. I have made hundreds of jumps on my own, so it has been really hard to imagine giving up that control and freedom. I had a weak moment, or maybe you could call it a moment of strength. I knew I needed to get in the sky and I didn't have time for a re-train. To make things better, the sunset was gorgeous! I think you can tell from the pics that I made the right decision. :)

Now I'm motivated to get my gear in working order and to get in the sky much more often! Dan is home for the next couple days, so we will have some family time together. An incredible friend of ours has offered to come over and watch the boys tomorrow or Wednesday so Dan and I can get away for some alone time. We have more dropzone time coming up this weekend (maybe three nights this time?) and I feel so happy about having the month of July "off." Elijah's ear is healing well and he has been in MUCH better spirits than in previous weeks. Life is good! Thanks for peeking in!

Super fun weekend with friends and surgery tomorrow.

The little boys and I spent a day at home after spending a super fun weekend with our awesome Texas friends. We were so sad to say good-bye to them this morning. I feel like we gave them a very accurate "slice" of our summer lives in the three full days we spent together. The kids had so much fun playing, no matter where we were at. The Legos and blocks (and snuggling) were huge hits while we were at home.

On Friday, our first full day together, we went to Minnehaha Falls and let the kids run and play. We had a picnic lunch and walked along the roaring rapids. I didn't get a single photo while we were there because Elijah had a really rough stretch, which I'm happy to report was the only "really" rough stretch of the weekend. 

On Friday afternoon we headed to a lake near our home to take part in the 4th of July festivities. Here are 4 of the 5 kids walking hand in hand. So sweet!

Elijah and Gracie have a special bond since they are both heart survivors. They are drawn to each other, which is so sweet. On our walk to Round Lake, Elijah wanted to hold Grace's hand and didn't want ANYONE else to hold his other hand at the same time. It was a Gracie-Elijah-ONLY moment for him. :)

Grace, Bennett and Maggie are the cutest, sweetest, kindest, most polite kids. I fell totally in love with them this weekend (their parents, too!).  

The kids jumped in many a bouncy house that evening and ate deliciously greasy-yummy food and played their hearts out. We made a spur-of-the-moment decision to have Dan take Elijah home a bit early so he could get some rest. That meant that he would miss fireworks. :( I was so torn about this. I always want our boys to experience everything they can. But...making sure Elijah gets his sleep is so super important these days. He seemed ok about leaving, and it actually brought a silver lining....no, TWO silver linings! On Dan's/Elijah's way to the car, they ran into my good friend Pam and her family so I was able to connect with them after Dan texted me about running into them! And...Elijah got an extra two hours of sleep.

The next morning we went to a beach/splash park and ate lunch at a yummy burger joint. After cleaning up, we headed to the dropzone. This is how the kids felt at that point..

Every kid except Sammy fell asleep on the ride to the dz. Jennifer made her first skydive with Dan and loved it! I am always so happy to share the sky with people! I think I got an adrenaline rush off of her adrenaline rush!

After jumping, we grilled out and cooked s'mores and attempted a few fireworks (before freaking 60% of our children out and stopping). ALL of the kids slept really well that night. We sufficiently wore them out.

The next day was church (sooo thankful the Coopers came along with us!) to listen to Dan's dad preach (super awesome message) and then we headed to the Mall of America. It was nuts, as expected. Here is Elijah, studiously perusing a map while the kids waited for the carousel.

Gracie and Elijah had a blast on the "fast cars" together! I love this pic. :)

And that was sadly the end of our journey! Our amazing friends left to head back home early this morning. Elijah cried genuine tears when they left. This was the first time I have EVER seen Elijah express true emotion about missing someone. He cried in my arms for at least five minutes, sobbing, tears falling onto my arms, as he said, "I misssss Graaaacieeee...." over and over. :( It was so sad, but Dan and I were both happy about the true emotion that he expressed. This is not typical for him. I never want my boys to feel sadness, but knowing that E feels that kind of emotion is a good sign.

Sleep/behavior in a quick nutshell... We had stopped the Clonidine (sleep med) and started a low dose of Valium almost two weeks ago. We got a fitbit and had E wear it on his wrist overnight to monitor his sleep. On the nights we were able to put him in bed by 7:00ish, he was actually getting 9.5ish hours of sleep/night. That is decent sleep! That told me that when he woke up looking like a completely wiped-out zombie, it was likely the meds that were affecting him. Dan and I made the decision to stop giving him the V mid-last week. Since then, we have seen only one major behavior incident (at the Falls on Friday) and a few minor issues. He looks much less zombie-ish and seems overall much more well-adjusted. This morning he slept in till...are you ready for this? 7:00am! This literally NEVER happens! We are still seeing him purposely try to anger us on occasion, but it gets out of control much less often. I am on the anti-med train for now. To be continued.

Ear surgery #3 is tomorrow at 11:00! We have NO idea what to expect. We are praying hard for a much better experience than last time. I'll do my best to post timely updates. It is so super easy to write something quick on Facebook, so glance there first but I'll eventually get it here. I feel like I haven't seen Dan in ages since he has been working so much, so I'm off to relax with him for a bit before bed. Thank you for checking in and I hope you all had a safe/fun holiday weekend!

Letting go

Wow, what a weekend! My sister Lynn generously offered to take both boys with her and her family up to their cabin for the entire weekend. I was reluctant to let them go at first. I spend so much time with them now that being away from them seems unnatural. I always worry about Elijah's croup and Sammy being so clingy and on and on.. I decided to just LET GO and let them go have a blast with their Auntie and cousins. It was tough! Sammy was so upset with me when I said goodbye to him on Friday night. :( I shed a few tears as we drove away from each other.

But everything was great, all around. The boys had a blast, even Sammy. And I got to spend an entire weekend at the dropzone with my husband! Let me tell you, it was weird not to have the boys there, but it was so very awesome. I haven't been alone at the dropzone with Dan since before Elijah was born! 

Once I decided that I was going to let the boys go with my sister for the weekend, I also decided that I was going to go skydiving for the first time in four years! 

And so, I went skydiving three times on Saturday. It felt AMAZING. 

I was nervous before my first jump. Thankfully I had Dan next to me. He always calms me.

Apparently I bite my lower lip a lot when I am nervous. Here I am, on my way to the door!

Here is our exit! Our friend Casey was kind enough to film the jump for me and snap a few photos, as well.

Still biting lower lip. :)

It felt so good to be in the sky again! That is the one place that has always made me forget my worries and feel totally and completely good and free.

We had to do a sky smooch, of course. :)

Breaking away to get into a sitting position..

The transition..

And Dan flipped back onto his belly because that's where he is most comfortable. He is an awesome belly flier. I am not!

Casey was literally flying circles around me. I was impressed with his flying and so happy to be falling through the sky, hence the very happy and smiley face!

I am still on cloud 9. I am hoping to continue to jump a bit this summer, when it works out.

The boys were a complete mess tonight. They were exhausted from having such a fun and busy weekend. Elijah was defiant and even Sammy had some breakdowns. They were in bed very early tonight!

Elijah is still having very occasional accidents. He had one today about 10 seconds after I arrived to pick him up. Nice. But then he had a big success later, which earned him a trip to the MOA for mall rides! Woooo!

Dan has the next two days off, which I am sooo excited about! Hopefully we will be able to squeeze in some fun adventures, and get rested up, as well.

Thanks for checking in!

Improved vision

Have I mentioned that I entered Sammy into a baby model contest? He is just so beautiful!

Elijah had his follow-up appointment with his opthamologist yesterday. Great news! His vision has improved by four whole rows on the eye chart! The doctor said that three months ago he was legally blind, so this improvement is quite a relief. We will continue to patch his good eye through the summer for 2-3 hours/day, and hopefully by then his vision will be closer to where it should be for his age. We have been very consistent with having him wear his patches, so it feels good to know that has paid off. Thankfully he does really well with it. He will occasionally ask if he can take it off, but responds well to, "Not yet!"

And MY vision has improved, as well. Not the vision from my eyes, but insight into my oldest boy. I was lying in bed this morning thinking about the book The Five Love Languages. There's a version written for children, and I have it on my bookshelf. I started thinking about what both Eljiah and Sammy's love languages are. How do they perceive love? Elijah is without a doubt a Quality Time guy. I know that all children need quality time with their parents, but Elijah reeeeeeally needs QT with us. It is the thing he asks from us most of all. When he was a baby I remember getting home from work in the evenings and starting dinner and he would become terribly fussy, which was out of character for him. Over time I learned to come home and immediately give him 30 minutes of my undivided attention. After that, he was just fine! I could go about my business and have a content baby for the rest of the night. He needed that one-on-one time with me immediately upon seeing me.

Fast forward to now. Dan and I really do spend soooo much QT with Elijah, together and separately. We always have. But I realized in bed this morning that perhaps our timing isn't the greatest. As when he was a babe, he needs that QT right away in the morning, and of course again throughout the day here and there. Also, now that I am working from home, being on the computer is something that needs to happen on occasion. I will admit that my computer can sometimes become a distraction for me. Between both blogs, Facebook, Pinterest and editing photos, a lot of my time can be consumed and I can be distracted from the QT a little more easily.

Right away this morning I brought Elijah into bed with me and tickled and played with him for 20 minutes straight. Pure one-on-one time while Sammy snuggled up against me (who happens to be a Physical Touch guy). Getting ready for school was a breeze! Maybe it was coincidental, but I am hoping I am onto something. When E got back from preschool this afternoon, I took him outside and spent 15 minutes playing baseball with him (one of his new favorite things to do in our yard). The afternoon went great! We had some more one-on-one time throughout the day, and I knew he really loved it. While playing Candy Land, I was the one to suggest another game and his eyes lit up.

(Here is Sammy with his wearing-Mommy's-shoes obsession.)

And tell me if this is a coincidence or not....NO POTTY ACCIDENTS TODAY! I am sure it's partially coincidence, but maybe not totally. 

(Elijah, wanting to play more baseball!)

There is my insight for the day. Our boys are both so special in their unique ways. We love them so very much!

I want to share a couple funnies before I sign off. Last night we got our (very gross, dirty, disgusting, puked-on, pooped-on, yucky) carpet professionally cleaned (for free). It looks great! Elijah likes it so much that he won't let me put our rugs back on it. Every time I put them back today, I would find them in the kitchen. "Mom! Don't put rugs in our new house!"

Elijah has begun calling himself "Ben" and calling Sammy "Rennan." Last night I heard him ordering "Rennan" around. "Rennan! Put on Mommy's shoes!" Then I would say, "Sammy, you don't have to put Mommy's shoes on." Elijah would say, "He's not 'Sammy!' He's 'Rennan!'"

I keep forgetting to write this one down. This is a funny one! You all know how much Sammy loves and has always loved balls. He almost always has a ball in his hand and seeks them out constantly. A few weeks ago in church an older gentleman was sitting across the aisle from us who happened to have a walker with tennis balls on the bottoms as stoppers. Sammy saw the tennis balls that had slits in them to fit around the bottoms and was aghast! "OH NO! BALLS!?!?! OH NO!" He couldn't understand why anyone would destroy balls!

Tonight we had a picnic in our yard for dinner. The boys enjoyed it, although sitting that close together always leads to some sort of trouble.

I think I will save my thoughts on kids at the park for another post. It relates to my worries about Elijah and kindergarten. We mamas are always worrying about something (or many things), right?!

And since Elijah kept his pants dry ALL DAY TODAY, we went to DQ for a post-dinner treat! The boys were so happy!

Look at this messy but happy Sammy!

We are still missing Dan, although he FINISHED HIS SKYDIVING COURSE! He is now licensed to teach AFF! We are so proud of him for putting so much time and effort into it. We love you, Daddy Dan!

Thank you for checking in! More adventures are certain in the near future..