A Chapter Closed........

Last week I went to the gynecologist for the first time since my hysterectomy. I got a letter in the mail today saying that everything checked out normal. Yeah! I knew it would, but their was always that thought in the back of my mind.......all the what ifs. Well, now that everything is normal, I go back to a regular yearly appointment schedule. I am SO glad that chapter in my life has been closed.
jenna

New Tricycles!!

Ok, so every Tuesday is bring your bike to school day. We don't usually go on Tuesdays, but last week we did. So Caroline took her bike. The boys don't have bikes, so they took their little ride on cars. I didn't think much about it. When I picked them up that afternoon, the boys tried to take other kids tricycles home with them. They cried and cried they wanted them so bad. Then Willie says, "Mommy, I got a baby car. I want a big boy bike!" Ok--right then and there I felt like the most terrible mother in the world! How could I deny my angels bikes when they were OBVIOUSLY ready. My mind was made up--the boys would have new tricycles!..........Then I started shopping for trikes--Oh my God! The cheapest one I could find was almost fifty bucks! Fine when you're buying a tricycle for one kid, not so fine when you need two.

So....... I was telling my mom about the dilemma. She of course made it her mission (thank God) to find these babies trikes at a reasonable price. She was relentless, and spent an entire nite of running around looking. Finally, Eureka! She showed up with two boxes full of parts and pieces, which would eventually come to be tricycles. The boys were on cloud nine. Thanks Pootie!

The boys were very anxious and obsessed with putting the trikes together. Jacker was definitely daddy's little helper.
Will is gonna need some practice riding. He doesn't have the coordination to keep his feet on the pedals. They would fly off and he would have meltdowns. So........Tim zip tied the souls of his sandals to the pedals so his feet would stay on. He felt much more comfortable and secure this way. He really began to enjoy himself.
Jack immediately rode like a pro. He loves it! He definitely wore himself out.
They are so proud!
Sissie got in on the fun too!
Will called this his tunnel (We're at greenpoint) and was obsessed with riding in the tunnel. Jack liked it because it was much cooler in there.

Pillow Craze!

Tonight the kids were piling up pillows and jumping on them and screaming and squealing. At first I was really irritated. They had destroyed the playroom, and were on my last nerve. Then I looked at Tim and started giggling. I distinctly remember playing just like this when I was a kid. Some of my most fun childhood memories are of silly little things like jumping on pillows. So, needless to say, I embraced the fun and shot a couple little snippets of video.

The Thomas Day Care

Is this not reminiscent of nap time at a childcare facility? Seriously, I feel like my home is daycare most of the time. Oh wait, it's not day care, it's MY LIFE! ha ha. They wanted to sleep together, so I let them. I figured, what is the worst that can happen? As you can see from the picture, William is faking it. The other two are actually asleep though. Willie just takes a long time to wind down and fall asleep.

I Know She Just Didn't!

Ok.....Here's the deal. I've been bugging Pettigrew forever to start a blog. I've told her how fun it is, etc. etc. She claimed that she didn't have time to even look at mine, much less start her own. She said she talked to me every day, why did she need to read posts on a web page, blah, blah, blah! I would beg her to check mine.....basically she refused. As I shamed her into it on somewhat of a regular basis, I could tell she was starting to dig it.

I called her today to tell her to check it. I was telling her about how fun it was now that I figured out how to make my pictures into precious scrap pages--with the help of H.Ko. Anyway, to make a long story short I got an email from her saying to check out her new blog. She was gonna try it.

Heather, can I just say, "I know you just didn't!" --No really, I'm glad to have another friend in my new blogging world! Katie will appreciate it someday!
jenna

Is that sweet, or what?

I think this is the most precious thing I've ever seen. Why is it that sleeping children are so angelic? Did you notice.......two silkies? Yep, still obsessed!

A Grueling Day of Testing

Today we went to Tulsa to the Developmental Center for Will's testing. Let's just say it was absolutely exhausting. He did really good though. He was pretty patient and compliant for about the first two hours....The third hour he started to get a little cranky. By the fourth hour he was screaming no at the Doctor and pushing her. By the end, I had to pick him up off the floor in an all out fit, due to refusal to cooperate.

The doctor assured me that he did great, and she took no offense to the screaming and pushing. Poor little guy--it was a lot to deal with in one day! It was exhausting for me......can't imagine how my little 2 year old felt. It is fair to say that everyone was frazzled! The testing itself was very interesting. I can't wait for our post testing interview. We go back on July 17th to sit down with the doctor and go over everything.
jenna

Guilty Conscience......

Today I picked the kids up from school and loaded them in as always. As we started to drive away, I was asking the kids about how thier day went. Will immediatlely starts hollering at me, "I go at time out today mama." "I sit on the wall. Shamey shamey on Will." So I ask him why he had to go to time out.....Heather (the teacher) did it, he informs me. So then we have the conversation that Heather did not do anything......that Will was the one who got in trouble.

Finally, the truth came out. "I push Kenndy" So we talked about how that wasn't a good idea. The rest of the car ride home went something like this, "Mama, why I push and hit? Mama, why I push and hit? Mama, why I ........you get the picture.

To make a long story short---Will's guilty conscience is EXHAUSTING!
jenna

Future Community Helper

My Budding Little Artist

This is a picture that Caroline drew for me. All of the little pictures on the side of the web page are her creations as well. Quite talented, don't ya think?

Hangin at home....

Ya know, this summer has been an absolute whirlwind so far. We have been busy little bees. Between therapies for Will, and all of our summer activities there has not been too much time to just hang out. As you can see from the following pictures, when we are planning on staying home for the day we don't get in too big of a hurry to get dressed.

Will goes next week for his battery of development and autism spectrum testing. I am anxious for it to come and go. Hopefully before too long we will have a clearer understanding of what is going on with our little guy.

They love this slide and it stays in the playroom about half of the time. Not only do they slide down it, the do stunts down it, slide things down it, fight down it, etc,etc.
These boots were made for walking.....In Will's case--these boots are made for standing ONLY! Every time he tried to walk he fell down and it was the end of the world! He was very persistent, and never stopped falling!
Yes, that would be my little darlings licking their plates. They think ketchup is a side, and desperately need to make sure they consume every drop!
Getting geared up to play with barbies.....That's of course mommy's favorite thing to play!
Reading books all nice and cozy.....and I mean it when I say COZY.
Dat Dat Dat Dum!!!!!!!!!
Butterfly craft--glue and sequins are always fun!

First she spent all her time and energy searching for and putting on this "getup" to dance in. By the time she got all ready she was over it, and decided to watch some TV.
Having a snack, hanging out.

Boxes.......Who Knew??????

The kids are obsessed with playing in these diaper boxes. Of course they have millions of toys that they are NOT interested in. The boxes have been taped and re taped as they are ripped from hours of playing. Go figure!

This would be a train, of course. Caroline was the engineer and the boys made all of the sound effects. I walked in and asked where they were headed in their train.....and of course Will was the one who answered me. "We're going to Russia, mommy" I am still just shaking my head on that one!
These boxes would be dog houses. Obviously they were all barking in their homes!

Is Vacation Really the Right Word???

Well, we are home from our "vacation" all in one piece. Tim and I decided early on that we should call our trip an excursion rather than a vacation. We had a fabulous time.....but it was a lot of work!!

The ride there was not as bad as I had anticipated. We left at midnight and the kids slept all night. When we pulled up to our condo, Caroline said look mom, there is snow on the ground. It was precious. Caroline and Jack were immediately in awe, and Will was terrified and would have nothing to do with this vacation. He slowly warmed up.

The ride home, however, was not so great. We figured (Tim did the math) that Will said my name probably 750 times on the way home. He also said "I gotta get outta here" about as many times. He is exhausting in a confined space.......he never closes his mouth (although in some weird way I find it very endearing). Other than the chattiness, he really did better than I anticipated. Caroline and Jack were angels! The DVD player worked miracles. Even with Jack having an outbreak of hives on the way home, he was just happy to be along for the ride.

We had a great time, and made lots of memories!

Caroline did a lot of running and squealing along the shoreline. That was as much of the ocean water as she could handle! Lets just say, she will not become a beach bum anytime soon.

Will, tuckered out after a long day on the beach!

Caroline LOVED digging and building in the sand! This is how she spent most of her time. She didn't much care for the ocean water though. If it would get in her eyes or mouth she would freak out! She did a lot of sitting and playing in the sand while we swam with the boys. She did love the pool though, go figure!

Does he look like an Old Navy Swimsuit model, or what? Jack just hung out the whole trip and went with the flow........thank God! He loved the sand, He loved the water, He loved it all. The night before we left he broke out in a bad case of hives......we're not sure what from. He still has them! The poor little guy had to ride in a carseat for 14 hours with welts all over him. He was a good sport about it though. He was definitely feeling the effects of the benadryl, and slept a lot.

Willie finally played in the sand! He cried for the first two days for about the first hour we came to the beach. He hated the sand! He freaked out and cried a lot at first. Being the persistent parents that we are, we didn't let him give up.......and he ended up loving it. He did love from the getgo swimming in the ocean. He would scream at Tim to let him go. So he would just float around in the swim ring and get thrown around by the waves. He loved it!

Caroline and I took a walk down the beach and we found this huge sand fort. Someone had abandoned it, so of course we played in it. She slid down the sides of it for a good while. It was great fun!

They loved building sand castles. Tim had to lend a helping hand to actually make them look like sand castles. As you can probably see in these pictures, Will got a little obsessed with his swim ring and refused to take it off.......Whatever floats your boat, kid!

Ahhhh........some relaxing T.V. time after a hot sunny day of playing!

Sissie was obsessed with looking for shells. She found several......although they were small--she didn't seem to notice. We're going to decorate a picture frame with the shells she brought home. It made me think a lot of Granny. She loved to look for shells as much as Caroline. I'm sure Granny was smiling down on us!

This is the first day, and Will is terrified of the sand. Daddy has to haul him around until he convinces Will that the sand is no big deal. He eventually came around.

Burying herself in the sand.

Just hanging out with daddy, watching the waves.

Look out Beach, Here We Come!

We are loading up the minivan and heading to the beach this evening. We'll leave around bed time for the kids and drive all night. Sounds like fun, huh? No really, it's just the "getting there" part that stresses me out. I anticipate having a fabulous time once we get there.

Did you know?.........In order to take 3 small children on vacation it is necessary to pack your ENTIRE house!!! Really, the packing has been crazy! Anyway, we'll be back at the end of the week--with a full report of our trip!
jenna

Today's Dr. Appt.

Today Tim and I went to Tulsa to the Pediatric Developmental Center. We sat with Dr. Fitzgibbons for about an hour. She interviewed us and asked us questions about Will and his behavior. At the end of our meeting she reccomended some diagnostic testing. She will administer an autism spectrum disorder test, as well as cognitive, behavioral and developmental testing. Should be interesting.

Nine Years and Counting!

Our Anniversary has rolled around once again.......Just to think, Keith took bets that we would not make it more than 2 years! And here we are, nine years later. Sometimes it feels like we just said "I do," and other times it feels likes it has been forever. I guess that's the way it works. As a newlywed I always wondered, Where will we be 5 or 10 years from now? Well, I never anticipated driving a minivan and hauling around three little ones!

Five years ago we spent our anniversary on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. It was a romantic getaway for just the two of us. This year we will be spending our anniversary on the Florida beach. I am anticipating it being somewhat frantic rather than romantic! There is no such thing as "just the two of us" anymore. I'm sure the kids will rule the roost on this trip!

Tim, thank you for being such a great husband and father. I don't know what I'd do without you!! I am so lucky to have you in my life.

jenna

.......And Then There Was Willie.

Ya know, I can never articulate to other people how Will is quite different from the norm, with all of his quirky little behaviors. I took this picture as I was headed to bed the other night. I peeked in to check on them, and this is what I saw. I just laughed and shook my head. That's my boy! Believe it or not, he was dead asleep, and also woke up the next morning with this getup on. This picture speaks volumes. This is the essence of Willie. Just different.

We go Thursday to the Tulsa Developmental Center to speak with a Neuropsychologist. She will discuss our behavioral and developmental concerns about Will and decide what kinds of diagnostic testing will occour. I am very anxious to see if his cognitive and behavioral "quirks" are due to the Cerebral Palsy, or something in addition to it. Don't worry, I'll keep everyone posted.

By the way, he is not wearing sunglasses, they are superhero glasses!.......and you cannot convince him otherwise.

jenna

Needed: Lifeguard on Duty

I took the kids to Kakie's to swim today......Note to self......One adult and three small children who cannot swim--not a good combination. No really, we had a good time, although the logistics were somewhat challenging.....Not to mention trying to take pictures! The boys were not as afraid, as I had expected (or hoped) they would be. Caroline wants to learn to swim soooo bad. She is overcoming her fears and beginning to go under and get more comfortable in the water. All she says is, I want to swim and be big just like Evan and Ella. I'm sure by the end of the summer she will be like a little fish!
jenna

Fun at the Park

Well, I am officially home with the kids for the summer. Wow, are they keeping me busy! We had a play date at the park with Heather and Katie Pettigrew this week. The kids had great fun....and Heather and I were exhausted! They all three wanted to go in different directions, OF COURSE! Caroline wanted to climb, Jack was obsessed with the sand digger, and Willie was a sliding fool! Fun times.
jenna

The Kids Have Graduated!

Last week the kids all had a graduation ceremony at school for the end of the year. The boys had a luncheon, where we viewed pictures throughout the year on the big screen. It was amazing to see how they looked like such babies last August! Then they had a diploma ceremony. Each parent had to stand in line with their child to recieve their diploma. Tim wasn't able to go, so it was just me (And April, who was trying her hardest to snap a few pictures). When it was our turn, the teacher called out thier names.....and Jack crawled up my leg (I guess he was nervous), and Will screamed No, no, no. I accepted thier diplomas for them as the crowd chuckled and the teacher commented in the microphone about how I had my hands full. It did not turn out exactly as I had envisioned! The story of our lives!

Caroline's graduation was a singing program and diploma ceremony. It was soooooo cute! They didn't just sing songs........they screamed the songs. I think Caroline was shocked by all of the screaming. She sang quietly and just stared at all of her friends like they were crazy. She also had a one line speaking part and did great! I was so proud.
jenna