A Year in Review!

*click on the photos to read the original posts!

January:

A tale of Two Cows...

February:

We ate some pizza...

March:

We stood up and a made a change...

April:

We were living in a hotel and snuggling...

May:

Caroline was a sweet little dancing ballerina...

June:

We moved into our new house!

July:

Caroline started Kindergarten...

August:

Will got a little blue cast...

and had a first day...

September:

I lived in a blur...

October:

We started a new system...

November:

Caroline learned something about squirrels...

December:

Will found his voice...

We have had a great year here at The Adventures of Lilo and The Stitch! Wonder what 2010 has in store for us!?

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Lilo (Caroline), The Stitch (William), Myssie and Josh

A Video!

Here is a video of Will telling me what he wants. I realize that my voice gets a bit skreech owl-ish, but give me a break...I'm excited!! And I never realized that I might talk a little baby talk-ish to him too...I need to stop that!

What's that you said??

Today Josh and I went to Will's school because they were having their "Christmas Party". It wasn't much of a party because the kids in Will's class like structure and don't like loud noises or to be over stimulated. The teachers had crafts and small games set up around the room and they sang some Christmas songs.

It was interesting to watch Will in his element. He was having fun, listening to instruction and participating with the class. He wasn't distracted with us being there. He remained with his teacher and did what was asked of him.

During circle time (right before they were to go home) Will used his communication board and requested Mr. Cow. But here is the amazing part...he requested Mr. Cow in a sentence. He used a picture icon for "I want" and then he used the icon "Cow". He then handed the sentence strip to his teacher and pointed to "I want" and then pointed to "Cow". He communicated a sentence!!

I had no idea that he had been doing that at school. Josh and I looked at each other in amazement. I asked the teacher if I could have an "I want" icon so that we could start doing the same thing at home. The teacher said that he should always request in a sentence from here on out. She said that if he brings us just the picture we should direct him back to his board and to his sentence strip. A sentence strip is just a smaller plastic piece with Velcro on it that he sticks his icons to, in order (sentence structure!!). He then must point to each icon in order.

I can not even explain how exciting this is. I am so proud of him. His voice is being heard, he is communicating and he is proud of himself. He is empowered!

St Louis Unionstation

Josh and I spent last weekend in downtown St Louis. On Friday, Josh had his company Christmas party and on Saturday, we went to the SIU/SLU basketball game with friends from college. With all of that going on we decided to stay at the Marriott in Unionstation.

I love this hotel! It is just beautiful. Unionstation was built in the 1890s and during it's prime serviced 100,000 passengers a day!

This photo was taken on the third floor of the hotel looking down into the Headhouse (main hall). They have it decorated for Christmas with a tree and wreaths. Behind the Christmas tree you can see an arch in the architecture (to the left). That is the main entrance to the hotel/unionstation. It is also known as the "whispering wall". A design accident, but really neat! One person stands facing the wall on one side of the arch and another person on the other side. If you talk in a whisper you can hear each other. Josh and I tried it, it really works!


We have never taken the kids to the hotel but I really want to. I think that they would really like it and well, there are trains there so Will would enjoy it too! If you are ever in St Louis and want to stay downtown I highly recommend the Marriott!

Fireplace Smores!

Caroline really likes smores, really, what kid doesn't! I told her that we could make smores in the fireplace and she was all about it.

She only roasts her marshmallow for about a minute and then says, "Mom, can you do it?" So I end up roasting the marshmallows and she sits next to me and watches. She thinks it is really cool when the marshmallow catches on fire! But that only happens when I am roasting because she doesn't get that close to the flame!

She has asked every night for the past week and a half if we can make smores again!

Watching it snow...

today before school.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What's Up?

I haven't posted in a week.

I am not sure what I have been doing.

A little of this...

A little of that.

Nothing too important.

I have missed ya'll!!

A Chance Meeting

Today Will and I went to the shopping mall while Caroline was at school. I had to find something to wear to Josh's work Christmas party on Friday. Me trying to find something to wear is near impossible, but that is another story for a different day. Anyway...

We went through Sears to catch the elevator down to the lower level. We got on the elevator and someone else got on with us...it was Santa!! For real! He had a long white beard, white hair and a belly that jiggled like a bowl full of jelly. He even had jiggle bells in his pocket, but he had on street clothes, no red suit. Will was intrigued by the bells and he just kept looking at him. Santa said Hi to Will and Will gave him a wave back. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen, Will looking at Santa with wonder in his eyes. As we got off of the elevator Santa told Will to keep being a good boy.

I wish I could know what was going through Will's mind at that moment. It was such a cool thing to have happened to a child that believes in Santa. I am pretty sure Caroline would have peed her pants if she would have been with us.

I have a good feeling about our annual trip to see Santa. It may be the first year that both kids are smiling and not crying!!

When Caroline got home from school and I told her all about it and she was super excited. We have decided that Santa was in Sears shopping for Mrs. Claus' Christmas gift!

Career Day

Today is Career Day at Caroline's school. She had a hard time deciding between being a veterinarian or an artist. She finally chose veterinarian. Here she is all ready for school this morning. She had a dog in her shirt pocket.

She was very happy with her outfit...good thing Josh and I were up last night scurrying through the house trying to figure out how to make her look like a veterinarian!!

Caroline Reading

Here is a video of Caroline reading a book from school. The title of the book is Stop! Josh and I are very proud of her, she is doing a really good job at school. We are convinced that she is a genius! ;-)

The video quality is a bit sketchy. The dog was up in my face and at one point you can hear me giggle, that is because the dog put his nose in my armpit and well...I'm ticklish. Then Will enters the picture and stands right in front of the camera because he is giving me a card saying that he wants Fruit Loops.

Without further ado...Caroline reading!!

This is what happens when I go to the bathroom...

NO!! I am not going to tell you about that silly!!! But what Will does while I am in the bathroom. AHEM!

I come out of the bathroom to find this...

I round the corner to find this...

He thought he needed a snack and couldn't wait for Mom to come out of the bathroom. 2 minutes! That is all it takes for Will to turn into The Stitch!

Hubba Bubba!!

I have given Will a new name...Hubba Bubba!! That's because he gained 3 pounds in a month!! He is doing so well with his eating by mouth that we are now only tube feeding him one time a day (in the morning) and he is eating and drinking the rest of his calorie intake by himself.

He is a bit on the chunky side right now...

Gaining 3 pounds in a month is very exciting but not ideal, he needs to slow down. I never in a million years would have thought I would be saying that a year ago! We are hoping that within a few months we can cut out all tube feedings, won't that be exciting!! I think that we might have a party, not even kidding!! So we are monitoring his calorie intake and we will weigh him again in a month, if he has gained then we will decrease his tube feedings. If he loses a little weight it will be okay (since gaining 3 pounds in a month last month) and if he stays the same that is fine too.

I can not even tell you how excited Josh and I are about Will's new found eating habits. What a difference a year makes!!

Caroline's Bird Feeder

Caroline had a Girl Scout meeting on Monday. At the meeting they made pine cone bird feeders, you know, the kind where you smear peanut butter onto the pine cone and then the bird seed sticks to the peanut butter, yep that kind. Anyway, the girl was super pumped about her bird feeder and super pumped about hanging it in a tree when we got home. Well when we got home it was dark outside so we waited until the next day. We hung it up after everyone had gotten up that morning, so around 7am. It was still there at 7:50am when Will got on the bus. But by the time Caroline went to get on the bus at 8:45am it was gone!

When she got home from school I told her about how it was gone and she was sad. I told her that sometimes squirrels get greedy and take things without sharing with others. She was already making plans to make another one when we looked outside and it was back!! The squirrel brought it back and put it on a landscaping rock just under the tree that he had snatched it from. I promise that it was not there before, we would have seen it!! Caroline was so happy that the squirrel decided to share. But then before I could get the camera and take a picture of the pine cone on the landscaping rock, it was gone...again!

So that is the story of the pine cone bird feeder and the greedy squirrels that live in our yard! I am sure that Caroline will be making a new bird feeder this weekend.

Sisters Weekend

I spent last weekend with my sisters. We had a great time together. Leslie and I drove to Cincinnati and stayed with Marcea. It was a five and a half hour drive but it was worth every minute in the car.

We went to Ikea. If you have never been there, the upstairs is a showroom. They have rooms set up and you can walk through and look at all of their items in decorated rooms and then downstairs is the warehouse with all of the merchandise. Marcea had some fun in the kitchen...

And then she needed to take a phone call in her office...

We had fun being silly and laughing together. We did lots of shopping, lots of eating and lots of talking. But the best part was just being together.

Wordless Wednesday

TRICK OR TREAT!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Love, Dorothy and the Lion

A Snack.

I used to do this with Caroline all of the time. It was how she ate her snacks when she was a toddler. She would pick her snack and I would put it in a small bowl for her and she would take her bowl and go about doing what she wanted. She would take her snack and watch TV, play with her toys or whatever. Caroline rarely ate her snacks in her highchair. Honestly, Caroline only sat in a highchair for a short time. We put her in a booster seat at the table very early on.

I have never done this with Will; give him a snack and send him on his way. Today was the first time he was given a bowl with his snack and he could do whatever he wanted with it. Granted, I watched him like a hawk to see what he was doing with it. But I let him do his thing.

He picked his snack, Fruit Loops. I put some Loops into a bowl and sent him on his way. I checked on him minutes later and he had taken his bowl into the playroom and dumped them on the table. He may have dumped them on the table but he stood there and ate his Fruit Loops!

I can remember the first few times that I gave Caroline Goldfish, she would dump them on the floor and then eat them. It only took her a few snacks to realize that it was better for them to stay in the bowl! I am sure that Will is going to catch on real soon!

It was a small milestone today for Will but one that we were both very proud of!

How about a game?

Where is Will? Have you seen him?









Peek-A-Boo!!!

Halloween Party

Each year Josh's aunt and uncle (Eunice and Don) have a Halloween party for the kids. It is such a great time for both the kids and adults! We look forward to it each year. This year was no exception, the party was fantastic. There was chili, potato soup (which was awesome), hot dogs and lots and lots of fun treats. Aunt Eunice had games like the Frankenstein walk race, Eye balls on a spoon race, the kids had to search for hidden bones and of course the annual parade (the kids parade around the yard so that everyone can see their costume)!

There will be no pictures of Caroline and Will in their costumes, I am keeping that for Saturday!! I know, sneaky!!

Some of the kids.

Will spent most of the party playing on the swing set. He was able to climb up the slide and go down all by himself.

Ruthie was Lady from Lady and the Tramp.

Jan with Barrett the Lion, GOARRR!

Andrea and James. This is the only picture that I have of James that he didn't stick out his tongue!

More pictures of Lilo and The Stitch to come later in the week!!

LET'S GO BLUES!!

Josh took Caroline to her first hockey game on Friday. Josh said that they had a great time and Caroline was pretty excited about the game. When she got home she told me that hockey is the only game where it is okay to wrestle! Wrestling, punching...same difference!! Here are my two before they left for the game, with there matching hats!

Woof

This week was Fire Safety week at Will's school. They had a fire truck visit the school and the kids got to look around in it. Will's teacher said that he kept trying to shut the doors on the truck, typical Will! Today he came home with his little hat in his backpack. It is some sort of fire dog hat. It is a fire hat with Dalmatian ears...I don't know but he looks precious wearing it!!

In other news, I got a call from the school nurse today. Will's mic-key button had come out at school. I had an extra button in his backpack just for this purpose so the nurse was able to put a new one in right away. I was afraid of this happening at the beginning of the school year, but now I know that everything will be just fine.

Eating

Eating is what Will has been doing a lot of these days!! Since the weekend, Will has been trying different foods and enjoying them. This is Will eating his fruit loops (his new found favorite thing) and notice the bib...clean!!

And a few minutes later....

Feeding Update...exciting news!!

Over the weekend Will had an eating breakthrough! Meaning....he ate!! He has been showing signs of turning the corner in his eating habits. He has been eating pretzels and cheetos when he requests them from his board and we hand them to him. He seems to eat, without spitting when he is up walking around, not in his highchair.

On Saturday after church we went to Imo's (a local, StL sytle pizza) for dinner. The pizza has very thin, crispy crust and I cut it into very small pieces. William ate an entire piece of pizza (the slices of pizza are cut into small squares). He took his time and enjoyed each piece and didn't spit anything out.

Josh and I kept asking him to show us (making him say AWWWW so that we could see into his mouth) because we thought for sure he was storing it away in his cheeks. But no! He was swallowing!!

On Sunday he ate dried cranberries, chicken, apples and blueberries baby food, a three musketeers fun sized candy bar and fruit loops. I am so excited for Will! I hope that this is the beginning of the end....for the tube feeds!!!

Hat Day

It was Hat Day at Caroline's school today! Student Council was raising money for children how had lost their hair due to cancer or other illness. The money raised would go to buy hats for these children. The students made a donation then got to wear their hat at school for the day. I thought it was a fantastic fundraiser!

Caroline before school, with her hat on!

The Adventures of Old Cow and New Cow

There hasn't been too many adventures of the Cows in a long while. Will has refrained from putting them in the toilet or the dog bowl in ages. Mr. Cow has not seen water (except the washing machine) since we lived in the hotel! It's a record!!

But they did manage an adventure yesterday...

Will thought that they needed a time out in the dog cage!

We have a Girl Scout!

On Monday evening Caroline was officially inducted into the Girl Scouts. She is in a Daisy troop, for kindergartners and first graders. At the meeting they had to recite the Girl Scout Pledge, were given a smock and a certificate. She was so proud and can't wait for the upcoming events!

Oh...cookie sales starts in January!!

Chili Day

Every year my grandma Forcum has an annual Chili Day. She makes awesome chili. Family and friends go to her house for a bonfire, hot dogs, marshmallows, chili and chatting!

She had a great turnout this year. There were lots of people there and the weather was perfect!

It was hard to take pictures because Josh and I were both trying to run after William. But I managed a few...


Mikkah and his brownie (that he dropped on the ground AT LEAST 5 times!)


Caroline with her Grandpa Chris (my dad). She was chatting him up while he roasted her a hot dog!

Caroline with Aunt LeLe (my sister).

Josh and The Stitch!

Grandma!! No pictures of you! How did I manage to do that??