INCREDIBLE SONG - WOW!

Weekend almost over

Well, this weekend is almost over and the weather was wonderful. Yesterday the kids played outside. They took tractors and dump trucks and gardening tools to the garden and played in dirt and water (yes, that makes mud). They were a mess when they came inside. I got them cleaned up so that we could go into Whittemore for my cousin's confirmation reception. We stayed at that about an hour and then we came home. The kids were wound up and all stayed up way too late. I think it was almost 11:30 before Carter went to bed.

This morning when we got up I got showered and ready to go to Algona. When I walked into the living room Carter looked at me and asked me why I was wearing makeup. Guess I impressed him! He is not used to seeing me do my hair and makeup since I stay at home now. It was funny. I am so glad he noticed! I took all 3 of the kids grocery shopping. I had Maddie push Kinnick in his stroller and I pushed the cart with Carter riding in it. It worked out really well. I bought more junk and snacks than I normally would, I guess that is why I do not like taking them along. Oh well, they all behaved very well so I took them to McDonald's for lunch. When we got home Maddie and Carter played outside until it was time for Carter to go ride with Adam in the tractor. Maddie ended up going to the Whittemore Pitts with a friend from school. He is a boy. He is her friend. But he is NOT her boyfriend. We like to tease her about it though! They talked to each other almost every night this past week on the phone. She leaves the room when she talks to him so we can't hear what she is saying.

I will have to go and pick her up shortly. Carter just woke up from a nap and Kinnick is watching a baby einstein movie. I should try and get a few more things done before it's time for me to leave. Hope you all had a great weekend!

What a beautiful day

The weather was awesome today. Maddie had a field trip for school to Smith Lake and the weather was perfect she said. She brought home a lilac bush to plant. She wants to plant it next to the lilac bush that her Aunt Nicole planted in our yard several years ago. The kids and I went outside from 6 until about 7 when we came inside for supper. They had fun playing outside with Wrigley, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swingset and blowing bubbles. By the time we came in they were filthy and so they went straight to the bathtub after they were done with supper. They also went to bed early because they were worn out from being outside. Adam worked on machinery today and then went out to work ground after we were done with supper. We are invited to two confirmation parties this weekend. One tomorrow night and the other Sunday afternoon. I am sure the weekend will just fly by! Sounds like the weather should be good so that will allow the kids to play outside. There is not much else new here. Have a super weekend!

Pictures

Cool Slideshows

We've been busy!

Another week almost over. It does not seem like tomorrow can be Friday already. Our appointment with Kinnick's newest teacher was on Tuesday morning and he did pretty good. He was tired so I suppose that might have added to some of his frustration. He made some great sounds for us. We have a lot of games to play with him and he really likes those. He gets frustrated when we make him "work".

Yesterday was crazy too. Adam had a meeting to go to over lunch time so that left me here with both boys and as I was getting ready for Kinnick's teacher to come at 12:30 all heck broke loose. Of course things always happen when Adam is not here (ha ha ha). Carter was in the kitchen with me and he was getting a butter knife out of the silverware drawer and the next thing I know he is screaming for Adam and there is blood in the drawer because he had cut his finger. Somehow a steak knife got put into the wrong drawer and on top of that it was upsidedown in the drawer so Carter got stabbed by it right on the tip of his finger. Carter hates the sight of blood. I got a washcloth wet and applied it to his finger to try and stop the bleeding. I needed to know if he would need stitches or not. So I am trying to clean Kinnick up from lunch, hold onto Carter and calm him down, and call my mom all at the same time! CRAZY! Luckily my mom was home and could come out to the house and help with Carter while Kinnick had his meeting with his teacher. The bleeding stopped and Carter was fine. My mom took him into the toyroom and they played toys. He really liked that special time with Grandma all to himself! His band aid fell off on the bathtub after supper last night and he has not really mentioned his cut since then. Speaking of the bath, Carter decided that it would be fun to stand up in the tub and "toot" well, he got more than he bargained for. Yep, you guessed it, pooped in the tub. And once again Adam was gone so I got to be the lucky one to clean it up.

Today was calmer. Kinnick and Brennan played with legos for a long time today. Here are some pictures of them.

Sitting here watching the Bachelor

Wow, the Bachelor, Andy, is hot! He is probably the best looking guy they have had on the show. Anyway, enough about that, I have not posted in a few days. I seem to be really busy these days! On Saturday Adam started planting corn. Too bad it was raining when we came out of Church Sunday morning. We got enough rain that it kept him out of the fields again today. He somehow messed up his back and spent most of yesterday uncomfortable on the couch. Today he was able to see the chiropractor, his massage therapist, and also his physical therapist. He seems to be in less pain. The chiropractor could not believe how loud it was when he cracked Adam's back.

Tomorrow Kinnick will be meeting another person who will be coming to our house to work with him. She is a communication paraeducator through Prairie Lakes AEA. She will come a few times a week and work with Kinnick. We need as much help as we are able to get. There is no such thing as too much when it comes to working with Kinnick.

Not much else to report here. Just waiting for the weather to stay warm so that we can spend more time outside playing.

Check out my Slide Show!

Results from Iowa City

Well, today is Tuesday and Kinnick had his appointment in Iowa City yesterday. It was an all day appointment and Kinnick did really well. He adjusted to everyone who examined him and they were able to take him and work with him without Adam and I being in the room. He spent time with an educational consultant, a psychologist, a speech clinician, and 2 child psychiatrists. Everyone was really nice and he found that each doctor had fun toys to play with in their office. When we met with the team of doctors after lunch they discussed with us their findings and their diagnosis. He meets the criteria for autism spectrum disorder as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). Specifically his diagnosis is Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified). Adam and I were overloaded with information and I think we left the appointment rather confused. Once I got home last night I looked up several things they talked with us about and am more comfortable with trying to explain it now. Also, when we actually receive a copy of the reports they write about about Kinnick we will have it on paper to refer to. There are 3 categories or areas that they look at to diagnose autism spectrum disorder and Kinnick "qualifies" for all 3. They are:

1. qualitative impairment in social interaction, qualitative impairments in communication, restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities

2. delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following areas: social interaction, language as used in social communication, and symbolic or imaginative play

3. the disturbance is not better accounted for by Rett's Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

CLEAR AS MUD??? This is basically everything that we already knew about Kinnick before his appointment, we just needed a medical diagnosis so that we can now ask for more resources that we can utilize to help Kinnick in everyway we can!

Of course, before we left Iowa City we walked over to Kinnick Stadium and took pictures of the statue of Niles Kinnick.

We are in Iowa City

Hello! We made it to Iowa City about 4 this afternoon. Kinnick and I slept off and on the whole trip. We went to the mall when we got here and walked around for a while and then we had to go to Target and get some diapers and wipes. Kinnick was happy to check in at the hotel so he could run circles around our room. He is wound up! I am hoping that after we eat our pizza from Dominoes he will relax and be ready to lay down. He really seems to like being the only child with us. Well, Deal or No Deal is getting ready to come on here at 8 pm. Love, Steph

April 11th and school is cancelled due to snow?

Wrigley with his new toys from the Easter Bunny
Kinnick eating a yellow peep!

Maddie and her Easter Basket

Let's see what we got!

This crazy Iowa weather is just about to drive me nuts. Maddie is home today because school was cancelled due to the snow and wind and slush and ice, need I say more???? This makes me want to go back to Florida. The kids want to go outside and play in it but it is just too windy in the country to let them go out in it. I think that Maddie and Carter are going to argue all day long. Carter has only been awake for 20 minutes and the 2 of them are already fighting over the tractors. Fun! Fun! I have not posted in a few days and that is because I have just been so busy and my allergies have been bothering me something terrible. We had a nice Easter. We went to my mom and dad's house for lunch with the Simonson's and that was fun. We came home and the kids napped and then we just relaxed the rest of the day. It was nice. On Monday I started babysitting for Brennan again. He will be here Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The kids sure do enjoy having him here to play with. He walks and babbles now so he is more fun for them to interact with. He will turn 1 this month. I enjoy having him here as well. Other than that there is not much happening here.

Love, Steph

Boring post

It is Saturday night at 10:30 and I am tired. I have a headache and feel like I am getting a cold. Maybe it is my allergies. Either way I feel like crud and want to go to bed. Carter and Maddie are in bed with me and they seem more awake than they should for this time of night. I plan to take lots of pictures tomorrow and will post them tomorrow night if all goes well. Love Steph

Pictures of Carter

Sticking my tongue out at mom after she ripped the band aid off my head!

The dotor gave me a sucker and a sticker after I got my stitches in!

The scratch on my nose is not related to my incident yesterday!

Here is the gash I got on my forehead yesterday afternoon!

Just got done with my bath!

In the bathtub today. We had to run soapy water over my stitches!

You won't believe what happened today!

Today started like any normal day at our house. Adam got up with Maddie and got her off to school. The boys and I got up shortly after that and had breakfast. We played until 12:30 when Kinnick’s speech pathologist arrived for his session. He did REALLY REALLY good! He said MOO. That is major for Kinnick! We are so proud of him. Neither of us knew that he could say it. He was playing with the farm animals that Susan brought along for the session and when we said moo he repeated it. YEAH!!!! He is really making a lot of noises and we are so thrilled about that. When Susan left I made lunch for us and after eating jelly sandwiches, strawberries, grapes and cheetos the boys were quite sticky and messy. Knowing that it was our intent to dye Easter eggs tonight I thought I would give the boys their bath so that we would not have to worry about it after supper. That is where I made a big mistake. Give both boys a bath when there is no one else home to help me??? What was I thinking??? Have I lost my mind??? Evidentally so because I went upstairs and started the bath water and then came back down to grab towels and take Carter and Kinnick upstairs. I unbuckled Carter from his booster seat at the dinner table and he started upstairs. I unbuckled Kinnick next and carried him upstairs. By the time we reached the top of the steps Carter let out a blood curdling scream. I came around the corner of the banister and saw a gash on his forehead gushing blood. I put Kinnick down and grabbed a towel to apply pressure to Carter's cut. He had tripped and fallen and his face colided with the corner of a door. I could not get Carter to hold still because as soon as he saw the blood he freaked out! I needed to call Adam on his cell phone and see if he could come inside and help me. Remember, I have 2 little boys who are wearing only diapers and we are upstairs with no one else in the house. Kinnick is trying to hurdle over my legs so that he can take his bath. I kept pushing him away until he finally got mad at me and went into Maddie's bedroom. At least he kept himself entertained so that I did not have to worry about him falling down the stairs. After calling Adam's cell phone over and over and over again he finally answered. I told him to come inside and help me because Carter needed to go to the hospital. By the time he got inside the bathtub was almost ready to overflow. Carter was very scared and worked up. Kinnick had found something in Maddie's room that he decided to eat. We think it was a crayon. So, we got both boys back downstairs and I got clothes on Carter. The next thing I know Kinnick is puking all over the place. Yep, it was lovely. Grape jelly and red raspberry juice and possibly a crayon. Well, he felt better after that. Fortunately my Uncle Bob was here helping Adam in the yard and so he was able to drive Adam and Carter to Algona so that I could stay home and clean up Kinnick. I called the hospital to let them know that Carter would be coming in. When the doctor first looked at the cut he was not sure it would require stitches. Adam told him that the cut was pretty deep. They decided to go ahead with stitches rather than glue. They strapped Carter down onto a backboard so that he would not move. When they put the laticaine in Carter cried. Adam said that the doctor was shocked at how deep the cut was. I guess they could see his skull. (I most likely would have passed out at this point). After he was numb they put 5 stitches in. The cut is smack in the middle of his forehead and is straight up and down, at least an inch long. I will see it tomorrow when I have to change his bandage. FUN! Adam said he did really good once he was numb. When he got home he was in a pretty good mood. The numbness must have wore off about supper time because he turned into a bear. We gave him some tylenol and catered to his every need the rest of the night. He finally got tired and went to bed about 10. So, that was my crazy day! I am sure that there will be more stitches in the future with these 2 boys of mine! They are not scared of anything! Well, I will try and take a picture of him tomorrow when I change his band aid and post it. Love, Steph

It's a new week

Happy Tuesday. I am sitting here with the kids and we are watching a Veggie Tales movie. Of course Maddie and Carter can never agree on what one to watch. They teach good lessons so I do not mind the kids watching them! Yesterday Adam and I met with Maddie's therapist in Algona. She received the report from the doctor in Mason City and wanted to go over it with us. We learned that she does not have anything wrong psychologically. The tests showed that she is above average intelligence. However, she really struggles with problem solving skills. She goes over and over things in her mind but never really is able to get to the point of making a decision or solving a problem. The reports show that she is very manipulative and knows very well what she is doing. She is actually screaming out for boundaries and rules. The test showed that I am not enough of an enforcer with her and the Adam is too much of an enforcer with her. So, he and I need to balance that out. He needs to focus more on complimenting her when she does good and I need to step up and do more of the disciplining. We also learned how some of the positive praise we give her could actually hurt her more than it helps her. We have always told Maddie how smart she is and how happy we are when she gets good grades. We have boasted about how she excells at all sports. Basically what we have done is set her up for failure. When she does not get 100% or when she makes a bad play in a ball game she feels like a failure. Then she does not have confidence in herself when she tries again. We need to praise her for her efforts rather than her results. She does not know how to "lose". There is an article I was given to read today from Maddie's teacher and it really made me think about things in a different way. Adam went to parent teacher conferences this morning and the teacher said that Maddie is doing well at school. We were happy to hear that. Parenting is a job where there is always room to grow and learn.

Stormy weather is on the way

Happy Saturday. Today started out with everyone sleeping in but by the way my children are acting you would not know it. They are so cranky today. Maddie and Carter have been fighting all day long! Maybe it's the weather? There are storms headed our way. We have been watching the radar all afternoon. Adam took Maddie and Carter to Algona earlier today and they got some groceries. Kinnick stayed home and napped and I did some typing for Ernie. He was here for about 2 1/2 hours working on stuff with me. He was just leaving as Adam and the kids got home. It worked out perfectly! We are having lasagna for supper. Adam prepped all the ingredients and I put it together in the pan. It should be ready to eat in about half an hour or so. YEAH! We are going to boil easter eggs tonight so that the kids can dye them tomorrow. I am sure they will have fun with that! I will try and post more tonight after we get the kids to bed. I gotta go for now! Love, Steph

Friday is here

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a good weekend. We do not have much planned. But that is normal for us. I need to go get groceries but will most likely wait and go when Adam is here with the kids so I do not have to take them with me. It just goes so much quicker if I go alone. Maddie has a birthday party to go to on Sunday and it is a pool party. She is pretty excited about that. Adam will probably work on machinery most of the weekend. He took Kinnick to get pictures taken at 11 this morning and then took Carter at 1 this afternoon. Bless his heart. He is such a good hubby! Carter did awesome getting his pictures taken, but Kinnick did not want anything to do with it. He would not hold still. He wanted to run and run and run! It is hard to believe that next weekend is Easter already. I need to get the goodies for the kids' baskets yet. Easter just snuck up on me! I have not even brought my Easter decorations up from the basement. Maybe the kids can dye Easter eggs this weekend. I think Maddie and Carter will enjoy that. I will take some pictures of them dying the eggs and post so you can see them. I need to go upstairs and get Kinnick. He is letting me know that he is awake. Love, Steph

Warm weather

Well, the weather is wonderful here. Yesterday it was so warm that I let the kids play outside in shorts and t-shirts. We put the trampoline up for them and got their little ride on toys out too. They had a blast. Kinnick and Carter screamed when it was time to come inside for supper. Seems crazy to have warm weather like this in Mach. You never know what can happen in Iowa. I took some pictures of them playing outside. I am going to try to upload them here before the boys wake up from their naps. I just got home from Algona. I had to go get my teeth cleaned at 1. My mouth is really sore now. I have never hurt after a cleaning before. I had to get x-rays this time (we get them once a year). I HATE those things! They set off my gag reflex. I did pretty good this time and was rather proud of myself. No cavities so that was good. I do however have to go back in a few weeks for a crown. I had a root canal done quite some time ago and never got the crown done. They are so expensive, but I guess it is better than shattering the tooth. Enough about my teeth, not much else happening here. Getting caught back up from vacation. We have all been dragging this week. Well, I here the boys yelling for me so I better go get them now. Love, Steph

My baby is 2 years old!

I cannot believe that my baby is 2 years old today! Where does the time go? He was really not very interested in opening his present this morning. He just does not like that type of thing yet. Carter and Maddie had fun helping him open his gift! I hope to get some birthday pictures on the BLOG later today.

Group picture taken at Seaworld

Time to come home!

Tuesday morning came way too quickly for Adam and I. We had to get up and get the van loaded and the kids ready to go. We had a few errands to run and then it was off to the airport. We were a bit more prepared this time and packed our bags a little bit more airline friendly. It helps when you know what to expect. I think we were all ready to come back home. Maddie was a little resistant to getting on the plane to come home, but once we were in the air she was fine. She was looking out the window and could see the gulf of mexico. That was really neat. Our flights were on time and were smooth compared to our trip down. I sat next to Carter on the plane and he just chatted my ear off. I took allot of pictures out the window of the plane on the way home. I was proud of myself because I conquered my fear of flying by going on this trip. I did not even need the medication the doctor gave me to calm my nerves. I only needed Dramamine to fight motion sickness. We got into Omaha at 5:30 pm and by the time we got our luggage and drove through for supper it was 7 pm. The kids and I slept on the drive home. We were all exhausted. Maddie did not go back to school until Thursday. She needed Wednesday to catch back up on sleep and to do her homework. We went to get groceries when Adam got back from attending planter school and picking up Wrigley. Three carts of groceries and $363 later we were on our way home. We did not have much to eat and so now our cupboards are stocked back up. I have spent the last 2 days doing laundry. I am almost caught up! The boys seem to be happy to be back at home and in their routines.