4/8 - March Madness no doubt

I can see this blogging thing isn't going to get much better until the summer hopefully. I'll continue to plug away because for me, this my scrapbook. I will find a balance and it will happen in about 1.5 more months.
Eli has continued with therapy and is doing so great and really making some progress. Here are a few samplings of what Eli has done over the past few weeks. He has worked on buttoning a little and finally has started to figure it out. He put the vest on an buttoned it up almost by himself. He loves to play "rocket" with Ms. Lisa. He lays down a scooter board and the scooter and his feet go up against a door to a closet. On the count of three, he has to push as hard as he can and then I catch him. All of his muscles are getting so much stronger. He then made a little obstacle course which he loves to do. It wouldn't be a therapy session without a swing and he was able to use the barrel swing. He's finally got it figured out how to push and pull on the straps and how to move his body to make the swing go. This is huge progress for us. He finished this particular therapy session with writing some letters (which he won't really do for me at home) and holding the marker in an appropriate way.

Here is a therapy session from last week. Eli is constantly seeking out to feel and experience sensations so that is one reason why swinging is so good for him. He was trying to swing in a normal swing except this swing swivels around and that makes it really hard. He does like to go on his belly and then run and push off with his legs to go really high so Ms. Lisa mixes "her way" (normal swinging which he can't do yet) and "his way" to keep him compliant and happy. He then had to cut some paper and put together a little puzzle and he chose to sit in the ball pit to do that (more sensory input). He then had to find little bean bag animals we placed at the bottom of the ball pit and then throw them out. To help with his fine motor skills, he had to then pick up the bean bag animals with a gripper toy/device. It's great to help build-up his hand strength and he thinks it's pretty fun. His activity of choice at the end was to play with these little magnetic monkeys that he has to push a lever and make them flip onto a magnetic board (good for fine motor skills too). He is still switching hands all the time but it looks like his right hand is more accurate but for whatever reason, he likes to still use his left.

 Something pretty exciting happened for me a few weeks ago. I unhooked the washer and dryer I bought in college and that we have used for the past 13 years (it was GE and I didn't have a single problem the entire time I/we used them)!!! We then went shopping and I found a new washer dryer. I was excited about the new washer and dryer but the boys were ecstatic about their new boxes that they turned into forts! They have colored and written all over them. We have draped the boxes with sheets and outfitted them inside as well. I just put them away for a bit because they are huge and take up our front entry way but the boys just love them.

There was a birthday party for the daycare that Eli goes and parents were invited (it was the birthday of the school, not a child). Brad has not been able to do anything for either child in regards to their school and attending things so he decided to go. He was going to fly at night so he slept in like normal and then woke up a little early to go to Eli's school. Brad was one of just a few parents there but Eli had so much fun with him.

Aiden was finally able to have a play date with a friend at school the Friday before Spring Break for him. He had so much fun. I'm hoping we can find some friends to play with around here this summer. There are no kids his age within a few houses of us and then there are a bunch of empty lots so it's not looking so promising for friends right next to us but hopefully at least a few in our housing development which is huge.


A few sunday's ago, Eli comes out his room saying he needs help with his shirt. I notice one button is already done and ask how did he get his shirt on with that button already done. He said that he did it himself. I was so happy for him. I told him we don't do the very top button but that was awesome he was able to do the tiny button on his shirt!!!

Brad's schedule has continued to be just insane. We took at 5 day break and went to Orlando for part of Aiden's spring break and met up with Mrs. Rusty (his former therapist and a great friend to me). On the way down to Orlando, we stopped at the outlet mall so I could see if I could find any clothes for the boys next winter. Brad and the boys had lunch while I shopped and here is a picture that Brad sent me saying they were coming to find me but got a little side tracked (see picture of Aiden with the muppets). We stayed at a timeshare we have stayed in before and loved but this time we were in a different building. We then find out they just put a new children's water park somewhere (there is a HUGE one already). We got to our room and went to our balcony and this is what we found. The new water park and it just opened. Amazing!

We had a good time just getting away and having family time.
We went to the little water park in our backyard once Rusty and her family came over the next day. It's been much colder in Florida for this time of year than it normally is and man, was it cold. I was in a sweatshirt and pants at the pool but the kids were determined to go in the water. They ran in a got pretty wet going down the slide and running through spraying water. They then crawled up the chairs and strikes a pose for me (pictures to the right). Aiden was pretty cold so he just rolled up into a ball. After Eli's lips started turning purple and blue, we decided to move the other pool which was just a few steps away. That water was much warmer but it was also pretty deep so the kids wanted a grown up in the pool. My awesome husband volunteered went in because our kids are too cute and love their daddy so much. It was a little chilly for him (freezing for me) and he went in a played with all the kids (Rusty has 3 kids).

We had fun with the Becker Family!!! Since this blog is in-place of a scrapbook, I'm going to post a few pictures from there:

We went and ate at Cracker Barrel and that was fun. I went to a consignment sale the night before we left and bought a $6 barrel of tinker toys. I came home and cleaned every single piece with clorox wipes and decided to pack them and take them with us because the forecast called for some rain while in Orlando. I'm so glad I did. These toys kept these kids busy for a few hours which enabled the grown-ups to talk. It was great. It also worked out that Rusty's kids showed mine how to use them and put them together since Aiden had never seen them before.

We went to a few different playgrounds in the resort (timeshare) and went to the big water park too. This is going to be the summer when the boys learn how to swim. I just now it. Eli loved putting his goggles on and even put his face in the water a few times. Aiden loves the big fast slide and Eli loves going in the zero-entry entrance with a tube and playing bumper boats (he bumps in to you). This game is also a favorite of Aiden. I was fine in the water but it was too windy to be getting in and out.

Here is our family having fun. Eli was looking so cute with his goggles on. The boys were so excited to see Brad so much and just play with him. I was glad to see Brad too and watch him play with the boys. It's always fun to hang out with the boys because they are so different yet get along so well. Eli's imagination just cracks me up and Aiden continue to surprise me with wanting to wrestle and do things that involve touching (which he would never do before). 

I was getting annoyed with the boys asking to play on their kindle's so much so I put some small activity pads in the van and they are really liking them. Eli, who normally won't color if it's voluntary, asked to color a picture in one and then proceeded to pick up the chunky colored pencil (in his left hand) and hold it somewhat correctly. That was amazing and awesome to me.

I was able to go on a field trip with Aiden's class to Diamond Ranch last week. It was originally scheduled for a Tuesday which was the spring break at Jacksonville University (where I work) but it was rained out. It was rescheduled on a Wednesday which was good because I was still able to go (I work on Tues/Thur). Aiden had a great time. He wanted to hold my hand as we walked everywhere but it was great to see him with all his friends/classmates. He rode a pony, fed cows which were totally nasty, and let goats lick oats from his hand. Did someone take my Aiden. The feeding of the animals was amazing and so beautiful for me to see. Before he would have screamed when a tongue touched his hand and he would have been done. Nope. Not anymore. He went back for another handful of oats and continued to feed the cows. In the bottom picture on the left, he's standing in the back on the right. His favorite thing of all at the farm, this barrel roll. If I had to bet, I would say he would never go on it and if he did, he would want to do a half roll (versus going all the way around). The kid was first in line and said he wanted to go all the way around. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes and ran to his seat. I wasn't sure if I was going to be taking pictures of him puking or smiling but I was ready. He seemed to enjoy it (or the kid sitting across from him that was about to puke just hated it that much that it was all relative). Aiden is the one sitting closet to us holding on to the pole.

Just when I thought Brad's schedule couldn't get much worse, we return to find out he's on the night flight for 3 days in a row AND he always has the latest flight (which means he then stays even later for water washes to clean the helicopter). Talk about a punch in the face from his squadron. He has meetings all day on Monday and doesn't have time to get any work done so then stays late to do work but tries to come by 6:30ish. We generally eat dinner around 5:30-6:00ish these days. From Tuesday to Thursday, he slept until about 1-2pm and then would wake up and get ready for work and then get Aiden from the bus with me at 3:00pm and then head in to work. He would work and then fly and by the time he's done with water washes and debriefing from the flight, he drives the 35/40 min home and would shower and crawl in to bed sometime around 4-4:30am. On Friday, he slept until just 10am because he had a noon meeting that he needed some time ro prepare for. Needless to say, Eli didn't see him for a few days and Aiden was lucky enough to get a huge from off the bus and then he was gone. On Friday had a full day and then we needed some groceries from the commissary so he didn't get home until about 6:45ish. This kind of schedule can kill a guy and a family. We rarely saw Brad last week. He hasn't been home from work on a weekday to have dinner with us in about 2-3 weeks. The good news is he came home tonight for dinner with the family!!! It was great and I'm so thankful God (and the squadron) have given him a night or two off of night flying (even if it was because I made him complain).

On Saturday we were able to celebrate Grace's 5th birthday at her party. It was at O2B Kids, which is an amazing place we will be visiting much more this summer. The kids had a lot of fun. They had giant-sized Connect Four and a foosball table (Aiden and Eli versus Brad). They also had a huge kitchen area which Eli especially liked. One of the things Grace chose for her party was gymnastics so they were able to go on a small tumbletrak and bounce around and use the cheese mats for forward rolls. She also was able to use the playgrounds outside and both boys loved that. Aiden loved climbing up this huge open structure while Eli preferred the more traditional playground around the corner. They had a ton of fun and it looked like the birthday girl did too.

I have massive amounts of grading to do starting tomorrow night so it will probably be another month before I post again. Playing single mommy during the week with my teaching schedule and also trying to keep up with Eli's therapy at home, housework, meal planning, meal cooking, etc is so challenging. I am so looking forward to this summer so I can take a break from so much work (teaching/grading) but am also a little nervous for having the boys all summer (they are usually in daycare). It will be good though because I treasure the fun times I can have with them and that's so limited right now with all the other responsibilities I have. 

9/23 - Eli's 4th birthday

Wednesday was Eli's actual birthday. On Tuesday afternoon I brought a balloon and playdoh (little containers for all his class) so that he would have something to share with is daycare friends. I only get to see the boys for about 15-20 minutes in the morning so it made me feel slightly better planning ahead and leaving something at daycare. My mom cooked a yummy dinner made up of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and green beans (all his favorite). We then skyped with daddy to sing Happy Birthday to Eli and he got to have a big cupcake that Nana made.

On Thursday Aiden and Nana help me put up the Cars scene. This thing is about 9 ft tall and about 15 feet long. It's huge and takes up the entire kitchen wall space.

We had Eli's birthday party at our house on Saturday. We invited his daycare friends (12) to help celebrate. Most of the kid friends that we have at church are Aiden's age so I felt like it wouldn't really be Eli's party so I invited his class. So I must ask - what is the problem with RSVP's these days? In Alabama I had almost no RSVP's for Aiden and a ton of people came. For Eli's party, I did have 3 RSVP by wednesday (the please RSVP by date) and then another 1 on Thursday evening and 2 on Friday morning. Needless to say, I had already made the goodie bags and bought stuff for the party on Wednesday and then went back out on Friday and had to buy more stuff to make sure we had enough.

I went to set up the backyard in the morning (the party was at 10am) and saw how wet the grass was so I decided to try and blow it dry. That wasn't working out so well so then I decide to just quickly mow it. Well, that didn't work out so well either because it was so wet that the grass wouldn't shoot to the bag of the bag so I was having to empty the bag every lap. On the bright side, our backyard looked great!! :) Our first guest arrived promptly at 10am. I had a trampoline set out, a bean bag toss game, and little race track boards I made earlier in the week (which I found on Pinterest).

After it seemed like most of the kids were here, I asked if anyone wanted to make a race car to eat. I got a few strange looks and then showed them mine and then a bunch of them wanted to make it. I was actually going to make these ahead of time and have for snacks and then Aiden suggest we make it a craft. Great idea. It's just an apple slice, with 2 tooth picks in it and 1/2 grape stuck on the end of the tooth pick to act as tires. Here is Aiden sowing me his. It was fun meeting the other mom's and dad's from the class although I really didn't get a chance to talk to anyone since I was running around do random stuff.

Mike and Arin (and Grace) came as well and they showed up and Arin iced a bunch of mini cupcakes so they would match the awesome car cake she made, and Mike just went out to the backyard and picked up a ball and started playing with some of the kids. That was awesome.

There was one other daddy there too and he was playing ball with the kids too which was great. The little race car track things turned out pretty good. I just spray painted 2 pieces of wood that Brad said I could use and then glued pipe cleaners down the side and middles so that the cars wouldn't fall off the track or crash into each other. I then propped one side up on a stool and brought out a small basket of cars and we were in business.

Arin used a cake mold that we had and made Eli a really cool race car cake. I think the funniest part is that when I was trying to find the pictures of when we used the mold before (and Grandma Jo decorated it) I found out it was for Eli's 3rd birthday. Haha. He didn't care and was excited about it. We were going to do Mr. Potato Head theme and then he changed his mind a few weeks before his party. Now he's says he will do Mr. Potato Head when he turns 5 but I keep telling him he has a while and he might change his mind before then. The cake turned out awesome!!

Here are Eli (left, green shirt), Aiden, Grace (far right, purple shirt), and Reagan eating some cake. My mom even bought little ice cream bowls for them too.

It was getting a little hot outside and I already moved all the tables from under the patio out to the grass since there was more shade out in the yard than under the patio but now it was just getting hot. Change of plans. We brought everyone inside after they were done eating, and let Eli open gifts inside. Eli was taking his sweet time eating so he was the last one done so Mr. Mike gave him first class service by bringing him inside in while still sitting in his chair.

We let the kids come over and take pictures in front of the giant Lighting McQueen/Cars scene and most of them did. I'll return those pictures in the thank you cards!

Aiden was an awesome helper and opened the front door to all our guests and then showed them to the back yard and put their presents on the table for Eli.

This was Eli's first party with kids his own age and he was a little overwhelmed a few times. Other kids were opening his presents and he didn't care too much. He would open it, someone would take it and look at it and it was all good.

 He actually even came up to me at one point and just gave me a hug and stood by me because he was so overwhelmed. There ended up being 9 kids including Aiden and Eli.

 Overall he had a great time. My mom, Arin, and Mike were a huge help. Oh yeah. Let me comment on that a little more. Mike was helping hand presents to Eli and was taking the old paper to throw it away and stuff and someone says, "doing a good job dad." I didn't think much of it but then I realized someone really did think he was Eli's dad. Another woman starts looking up at the huge family picture over the fire place and is seeing that Mike is not the guy in the picture. We finally had to clarify that Eli and Aiden's daddy was gone but they Mr. Mike was doing a great job of filling in for a few hours. It was too funny.

 I was so glad Eli was letting the other kids play with all his stuff although he was (and still is) possessive about a Cars 2 car.

After he was all done opening present Eli comes to me and says, "can I open one of my presents?" I say sure what do you want to open? My new nap mat. This kid got cool Superman outfit stuff, a musical guitar thing, and a few Cars and Planes toys and he wants to open the nap mat.

 Thankfully Mike and the other daddy (John I believe) helped put all the toys together.

And this toy by Eli is the winner. It's his favorite (and Aiden's) toy. Eli had a blast and his friends had fun too. I think I am making a deal with myself though and anymore birthdays that daddy is not around, I give myself permission to go have them hosted at some other place so I don't stress as much.

I meant to take a picture of the goodie bags. We had mainly food in them Luigi's Tires (oreo cookies), Mater's Tow Cables (red twizzlers), Cars gummies, and Red Light, Green Light Playdoh (the home made stuff). At least it's stuff that kids will eat and won't be thrown away.

6/6 - Birthday after-math

Actually this blog is not titled correctly. This therapy appt was actually 2 weeks ago. I had to take a picture though because Mrs. Rusty was able to pin a monkey on his back and he didn't even protest. Awesomeness!

















These swim pictures were from last Thursday or Friday. We went to the YMCA and the boys had a lot of fun. Eli loves the water but mainly just loves to walk around and jump water from one container to another. Even though he's normally a thrill-seeker, he won't go down the slides which I find interesting. I think it has a lot to do with a slight bit of water getting in his ears and he HATES that.




Aiden has actually showed quite a bit of interest in swimming. He is at least getting comfortable with us letting go of him and him swimming on his own with his floaty contraption. Obviously we eventually want not floaty thing but sensory things take a much longer time with Aiden so any step forward is one we are happy with.


I actually started making this blog about 4 days ago and never finished it. Here is Aiden putting sprinkles on cupcakes that he brought to class 1.5 weeks ago for his birthday. Eli got to decorate some too.

Here is Aiden on the morning of his birthday (last Sunday) opening his present. It's a Mega Blocks building game. It's pretty neat and both of the boys are enjoying it.

Here are the boys playing the new game. No wonder why we were 5 min late to church last week. We definitely didn't factor in "play with new toys" time. I love this game we just got because besides taking turns, you have to realize what pieces you need to build your specific object and then, once you have them all, you have to figure out how to put them together to match the picture. Lots of good skills to practice. 

Here are some pictures of Eli just enjoying himself. If you ever see a man in googles perform a crime, it could be Eli. He thinks he's a bad guy when he wears them :)

Here he is playing with Aiden's new Ironman toy. This fist launches discs and the boys are loving playing with it.

 Aiden got an over-the-door basketball hoop and here he is playing with it. For some reason, he likes throwing the ball up threw the middle of it. Crazy kid.

 Did I mention that Aiden got an umbrella for his birthday? He loves it. One the way home from daycare the other day, Aiden wanted to stop at the neighbors house and see if his friend could play. He insisted that he take an umbrella to get his friend because it was so hot out so he borrowed mine from the van. He told me he didn't want me to come with him to I just watched him go the front door.

 In keeping with his umbrella theme, here he is the next day on his way in to therapy. Again, it was sunny and he was trying to get shade. The funny thing is that on the way out, it started drizzling and he made a running bee-line for the van. I reminded him he had an umbrella and he said he didn't want his shoes to get wet.

Aiden only has a few more sessions left with Mrs. Rusty. While he still doesn't really like swinging, we are finding that he does like other things. He actually almost told us he liked having to climb over the bean bags and under the purple fabric. It's a VERY narrow space so there is pressure from all sides all he crawls up.

After therapy was done, we went and picked up Eli from daycare. Once we got to DJ's house (Aiden's friend), he wanted to get out walk home. I let him and of course, he used his umbrella. Eli decided he wanted to walk home too. That lasted for about 2 houses until they got too tired and jumped back in the van :)




Aiden has been quite obsessed with cameras lately. He's been asking to use mine which makes me slightly nervous given how much I paid for it. Aiden found an old camera in the office/guest room last week when I was cleaning and asked if he could play with it. I put some batteries in it and it works just fine. He here is to the left looking at pictures that he took on my camera.

 The boys were outside sweeping the other day. It's great exercise!!

We even got Eli into sweeping for a bit. He peetered out after just a bit but he got a little exercise in. 

Aiden got another little golf set for his birthday so he was outside playing the other day. DJ was over playing with Aiden and I decided I would make them some wickets to give the something other to do than just hit the ball around. I used pipe cleaners and golf tees and made some wickets. Fun!

It made it much more fun for the boys and have them a goal. I would name off a few different colors and he they would have to hit the ball through each. 

Little Eli REFUSES to let me show him how to do anything. It's so frustrating for me. So, this is how he putts the ball :(

Eli got on Aiden's bike the other day and loved riding it and did a great job.  He's doing such a good job using the pedals.

 Here is a picture of DJ, Aiden's friend from down the street. He's such a sweet little kid. The boys were playing MarioKart and taking a break from the heat.

Here is Aiden, Mr. Sensitive Nose, telling me he doesn't like the smell of dinner. He doesn't like the smell of anything. At his birthday party, that is one of the reasons he didn't want to do the dinosaur excavation - the smell of vinegar.

Here is little Eli at bath time just playing with his toys. So cute. He could stay in there all day long if we let him.

 Here are Aiden and DJ playing with Aiden's new Mega Bloks game.

 Here are the boys playing with Hallabaloo. DJ had lots of fun playing and my boys enjoyed playing with a friend.

Eli was playing Bugs and Button and doing a maze. He's been using his right hand for mazes lately but he's consistently been eating with his left hand.

These brothers are just too cute. Aiden is getting quite a collection of mini stuffed animals. He has his dinosaur from his birthday in his hand. He actually names all of his animals and very carefully chooses which ones to carry around.

Aiden helped me make a smoothie in our new blender the other day. We tried peanut butter, milk, banana, cocoa powder, and ice. It was quite delicious. I've been experimenting with various green smoothie recipes so it was a nice break to have a dessert type smoothie.

Here is camera-obsessed Aiden with the new digital camera he found in the office. He's been taking pictures of everything.

 And we'll end off on some umbrella pictures. It was raining the other day and the boys decided to play outside. You can see Eli out on the patio with my yellow umbrella. You can see Aiden much closer and under the porch covering with his blue umbrella. It took him a while to be convinced to go out in the patio part because he didn't want to get his feet wet.

The good news is that he did eventually go out and get his feet wet. He didn't like it very much but he did it!!!