Transitions...

That is what Will and I are going through right now. Will is turning 3 in two weeks. We are all looking forward to his birthday and so proud of the little boy that he is growing to be. But with this amazing birthday comes MAJOR changes.

Since Will was 3 months old we have been getting therapy services through the state program, early intervention. The therapists come to our home and love, nurture and guide William and I throughout these three years. Once a child turns three they are no longer eligible for the state program and the school system takes over.

I will not be there during therapy to support, cheer and encourage him, his teachers and therapists will be there. I will not be the one that is trying to teach him how to communicate and learn new skills, it will be his teachers. I feel as though I am handing them my baby, not a three year old.

Our little cocoon of safety and comfort will be broken open. If I don't tell someone about RTS, they don't know, they don't care. William is just...William. But with school, William is William, William is RTS, William is special ed.

I went to look at the classroom that the teachers and therapists think would be a good fit for William today. I cried. And cried. The ugly cry. In front of people that I don't know! For a long time. I have been putting off going and visiting for over two weeks now and today I felt like I had to do it. I was just overwhelmed and frankly, scared to death. The classroom is a self-contained room, meaning that there are only special kids in the room. All of the students have a one on one aid with them at all times. It seemed to me like a big therapy room. The teachers were sweet and understood my emotion. A teacher took Will and played and showed him around the room while I talked with the head teacher. I feel better about the classroom after having talked to her but I still have fear. It is just a big change and everything is so new.

We did the evaluation process a few weeks ago. Will and I went to the school and a team of therapist and teachers evaluated William on many different skills. The testing took two hours which William did very well with. He charmed them all instantly and all of the ladies went ga-ga over his eyelashes! I cried. And cried. The ugly cry.

We went back to discuss the results of the evaluation. They said that Will (35 months old at the time) scored at the 17 month old level for cognitive development and at 13 months for language development. I cried. And cried. The ugly cry.

We haven't had the IEP (individualized education plan) for him yet, that comes on Thursday. I am afraid that I am going to be a crying sack of emotions and be worthless.

Will is going to be starting school on the 17th of August, only two days after he turns 3. Is there any way that we can just stay in our cocoon?

A little procedure...

Mr. Cow went to Children's hospital today. He had to get an ID bracelet, take some medicine and wave good-bye to Mama while he was carried by the doctor to the operating room. Mr. Cow got ear tubes today...oh yeah, so did William!



Both Mr. Cow and William where done with the procedure within 15 minutes. William woke up right away and cried for just a few minutes. He drank some juice and then we were able to go home. He came home and took a really long nap but is feeling pretty good now.

Wordless Wednesday...Cow kisses

Eyelashes...

Will's are ridiculous!


*Click on the picture to get a closer look! Then you can really see the length for those babies!!

A Day at the Zoo

On Sunday the kids and I spent the day at the zoo with my friend Laura and her son, Peyton. We had a great day, awesome weather with only a few melt downs. ;-)

Caroline and Peyton...


A big cat up a tree!


Great Friends...


Caroline riding a zebra...


There is a new exhibit at the zoo this year. In the exhibit you can touch stingrays! It was very cool! The kids loved it, even Will. Though I think that Will would have loved it more if they would have let him get in the water with the stingrays!

Peyton touching a stingray.

We had a great time with Laura and Peyton. We can't wait to see them again!!

Caroline's First day of School 2009

Today was the day! Caroline started kindergarten! Our school district does year round school so the school year starts in July, they go 9 weeks of school then a 3 week break. I am nervous about the new schedule but I think that it is going to work out great in the long run. The year round school schedule is done only in Elementary school so once the kids get into middle and high school they are on the regular school schedule with a three month summer vacation.

Caroline was so excited this morning, waking up at 5:50 am! The bus doesn't come until 8:50 am!! She got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed her teeth and got her backpack. She wanted to ride the bus with all of her friends from the street so that is what she did.

Will and I walked her down to the bus stop and waited with her. All of her friends were there and she showed no fear. On the way to the bus stop she said, "I am very excited and just a little bit nervous". I told her that everyone on the bus is going to be nervous too, so it was going to be okay.

The kids saw the bus coming and she was ready to go. There was no "Bye Mom", "I'll miss you", "I love you!!" NOTHING!! She didn't even wave good bye to me!! So my mission is done, I have raised (thus far) an independent child that is excited about a new adventure.









That is her out in the front of the group. She was the first one to get on the bus!

I can't wait to hear about her day when she gets home. The bus will be dropping her off at about 4:20 pm, which is going to make for a long day!!

And, for the record, I didn't cry. She was brave and so was I. ;-)

Design Dilemma

Hi ya'll. I have a question for all of you and it has nothing to do with RTS or Lilo and The Stitch, it is more of the decor nature.


I had one of my photos printed. It is one that I took last summer when Caroline and I went to Shell Island. I had it printed as a 20 x 30, so it is LARGE! I love it, I think it turned out beautifully, and I am pretty proud of myself too!


I want to hang it above the mantle. I am not a fan of the brick on the fireplace, but Josh nearly died of a heart attack when I told him I wanted to paint it, so it will stay (for now). Here is my question: What type of frame should I put it in? I want to have it matted, what color of matte? In the pictures the photo is on cardboard. I think that I might paint the mantle itself white to match the trim in the room. We are also getting new furniture in this room. We are either going to get a leather sofa or a chocolate brown micro suede sofa, so the blue couch and chair are not staying. The walls are a latte color, light brown.

So what do you think????

Wordless Wednesday...Will is leaving his handprints on the world!

or on freshly painted playroom walls!!

A tour of our new digs...

Okay, so here are some pictures of the house. Please remember that we have lots of things we want to do!!

The kitchen...

Just on the other side of the Fridge is the door to the laundry room that goes to the garage. In the kitchen there is also a doorway leading to the dining room. The kitchen, eating area and the living room are all open to one another.

The living room. Josh started to paint the walls and then we (read as I) had second thoughts about the color. It was just too dark. I am thinking we are going to paint it just one shade lighter.

This is the eat-in kitchen. I need to find two more chairs for the table!

This is a view of the sunroom or Florida room. The room has windows all the way around. I have the shades drawn to keep the temperature down a bit.

Here I am standing in the foyer looking up the stairs. The stairs are open from the front and the back of the house. The light that can be seen is the light over the eat-in kitchen area.

Here I am standing on the landing of the steps looking down into the living room. Caroline is blogging (just kidding!)

Here I am standing at the front door looking to the left. It is the kid's playroom. It is a disaster 99.9 % of the time.

It was hard to get pictures of the rooms. I just stood in the doorway and shot a picture into the room. This is Will's room.

This is Caroline's room. Her walls are painted a light blue color and she loves it!

This area is at the top of the stairs. I think that I am going to put some bookcases in there and make it a "library" area. It leads into the Master bedroom.

Here is a picture of part of the master bath. There is a seperate shower and toilet around the corner.

So that is what I got for now. Once I get things done I will post the "afters".

Fredbird

Disclaimer: These pictures were taken last month. I am just now getting to them. Sorry...

Josh's bosses Jerry and Angie have a son, Matthew. He is a HUGE St. Louis Cardinals fan. Every year for his birthday Matthew comes to the office and hands out ice cream treats from his uncle's ice cream truck. This year his parents (and aunt and uncle) had a surprise for him! They had invited Fredbird to come out to the party! Jerry and Angie invited all of the employees and their families, so we got to partake in the fun too. Josh was out of town so I took the kids by myself. We were totally bummed that he had to miss it.

Matthew was so shocked when he saw Fredbird. It was so cute. He kept saying "what is going on here?"

Will could have cared less, he was less than impressed. Fredbird tried to shake his hand and he was not having any of that. Will didn't mind having his picture taken with him as long as I was there.


Fredbird trying to eat my head, Will trying to eat his hand...


Caroline on the other hand, was ALL ABOUT IT! She thought that Fredbird was the funniest thing ever! When Fredbird came over to her he immediately put his shirt over her head.


She thought it was histarical...

Fredbird gave her a kiss...

And a thumbs up picture for Dad!

Happy Birthday Matthew! And thank you Jerry and Angie for including us in the fun!