Annoying

I took Bennett in for his follow-up today and his pediatrician looked at the xray and saw NO pneumonia...thought the ER was just playing is safe. So, yeah.

Also, pics on the Flickr page are going to be out of sequence. I posted some of Viv's birthday party yesterday, and now I'm going to start getting caught up by going back to September 2nd.

Our step into modernity, Vivian's Bday party, etc.

Bernie and I have finally gotten smart-phones-two iphones to be exact. He got the 4 and I got the 4s. We have been thinking about it for a long time and our contract has been up for over a year. So we decided to go for it and signed up with Verizon. This is the first time we even have a text plan. We have been having fun getting familiar with all of the phone features and playing a little bit of Angry Birds. The Siri voice feature on my phone is especially fun. I swore at it earlier today and it said "watch your language!' Ha! And seriously, I don't know if I will ever need another camera. It's such a convenient way to take photos. We are really going to get teched up on Friday when I go pick out my ipad birthday present. I think that will be nice to have on our two upcoming plane trips with the kiddos.

We had Vivian's first birthday party over the weekend. It was a co-party with her friend Audrey who also turned one. It was a fall costume themed party. Vivian was a cupcake and Bennett was a pirate (Aside: I got Bennett a really cute Mickey Mouse costume at a garage sale. I have been slowly introducing him to it for a month, but there is no way he is dealing with that shit. I had to emergency order him a set of pirate jammies from Old Navy. They're cute too, but I thought this was the year for a real costume). I made an owl cake with pyrex bowls, which was my first foray into making a non-regular cake. I will have to post pics of it later. It only stood up for about an hour before toppling over, but everyone at least got a chance to see it. Vivian got scared by some noise and didn't really get into her smash cake moment. But it was otherwise a good time.

Bennett and Bernie have been sporting cold symptoms since Saturday. Last night, Bennett got really weird with his breathing. It was fast and labored. He seemed agitated and was coughing constantly. The breathing thing was really freaking me out so I made Bernie take him to the ER and midnight. His oxygen was a bit low. The chest x-rays revealed a small spot of pneumonia. He is on antibiotics now and we will follow up with the pediatrician tomorrow. I'm glad we ended up taking him.

I have set up times to observe three pre-schools for Bennett. In some ways I feel like we should look at more, but then I feel a bit suffocated by all of the choices. I'm hoping we can find something we really like from the first three and that they will have a spot. Keep your fingers crossed. Now I'm delving into the question of which school district we want to be in. It's all so adult of me!

We are off to Minneapolis next week for a wedding. Bernie's mom and youngest sister will be meeting us there. We are looking forward to it...as long as we get well!

The Kids in Bulletpoints

Bennett

-finally saying "help" when he needs it. I can't tell you what a breakthrough this is.
-is getting therapy three times per week
-is taking a tumbling (beginning level gymnastics) class that he seems to enjoy. The boy loves his gross motor activities
-gets excited to see his friend Noah
-still loves to cuddle and read books
-is waking more often at night yelling. I don't know if he has started to have nightmares or what.
-loves to ride in the van and look at power lines
-STILL loves to watch the laundry in the washing machine
-enjoys eating green peppers like apples straight out of the garden
-is very into his routines, but doesn't get too mad if they are changed
-is going to be three in two months!
-would eat constantly if allowed
-will be beginning the preschool transition soon. We are meeting with the school district to do their evaluation the first week in October.
-still loves his blanket and thumb
-favorite toys are cars and trains

Vivian
-pulls up to stand on everything, but has not started cruising yet
-puts all food in her mouth and seems to promptly spit it all back out
-waves to say hello, plays peek-a-boo like a pro, mimics words, talks on the phone, and gave the sign for "all done" tonight at dinner.
-pulls on my hair every chance she gets. It seems to be her comfort object
-gave up the pacifier on her own a couple of months ago (much to my annoyance some days), five months earlier than Bennett gave up his.
-has eaten out of a bottle two times in her life and is doing well with sippy cups
-does not love car rides as much as Bennett
-still wakes up 2-3 times per night. Between her and Bennett, I don't know how I function some days
-has to take two baths every day to help with her eczema (which is so much better).
-is going to be one in one month!
-enjoys following Bennett around and getting into his business whenever possible.

Tomatoes the size of softballs.

We have some of those here. And they are the beautiful multicolor heirloom variety. I went to pick two of them yesterday after not-so-patiently waiting weeks for them to ripen and found that some sort of critter got to them first. The bottoms were eaten out of them. The critter better not show its face, or it will be dead. I cut the parts out that were chewed up, but I don't know if I can bring myself to eat them.

I have been avoiding the blog update recently. I just can't seem to muster the will to write about what is going on in our lives. Things are mostly status quo. Bennett had his first session with the developmental interventionist this morning and it went OK. We are hoping she can help out with his transition to preschool coming up in January. Right now all of Bennett's therapy services are through Childfind, which provides early intervention for under 3's free of cost. So all of our sessions are in the home or community (usually the park). When Bennett's third birthday rolls around, everything will switch to the local school district. Then our co-pays and visit limitations will apply (currently 50 combined for all disciplines for a year). And therapy will be at the center the therapists work through. It should be interesting trying to shuttle him and Vivian to three appointments every week. It sounds like they will try to combine most sessions with preschool when that starts. Bernie has to start looking at other insurance plan options. We are going to blow through 50 sessions in about 3-4 months.

Bennett has had a bit of an explosion in speaking lately. He has probably added about 20 new words in the last couple of weeks. They might not be understandable to everyone, but we can tell what his is saying. Examples include, train, choo-choo, bus, pop, hop, and I did it! I've even heard a couple of "mamas" out of him when he really wants something. Fingers crossed the at progress continues to be made.

Poor Vivian has been sick for the past two days. She has had a fever on and off along with the stuffy nose. And she just puked as well, so I'm sure we are in for fun for the next 24 hours. Especially when she can't sleep for longer than an hour at night and 15 minutes during the day.

I think we have almost made the decision that Colorado will be our permanent home. We have been here for over four years now and made some great friends. And I'm not sure you could find a better place than Boulder County to raise a kid like Bennett. The opportunities and resources are overwhelmingly endless. I can't see going back to Great Falls and we can't wait for five years for something to open up in Phoenix or Missoula. I am ready to make a decision. We are talking about getting our forever house in about 18 months as well. I am already obsessively considering where it will be.

I guess the most important issue I need to report on is Bennett's developmental evaluation. He was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). It's still a bit confusing to me, but I do understand that it is on the autism spectrum. There are so many things we need to get done now. He needs more speech therapy, there are a million books to read, a billion theories to sort through, and classes we need to get signed up for. The barrage of acronyms has just begun. We have IEP's and IFSP's to consider and we barely know what they are. I am optimistic. I think Bennett's potential is great and we are getting an early start.

My dad was discharged from the nursing home this week and is now with my uncle Joe's family in Wyoming. He has had a rough couple of days and already a trip to the ER. He is nauseous and barely eating. Everyone is hoping he will be able to settle in soon. I can't see him going anywhere else if he can't make it there. We will have to start considering a long-term facility placement for him I think.

I decided to step down as the coordinator of the 2012 walk due to all of the excitement. I will still be very involved in the planning, but I can't take on the full responsibility.

Miss Vivian has started to pull herself up. I can't believe it. She will be a year old in less than two months. Speaking of birthdays, I have already started to plan both parties. Vivian is having a co-party with her friend Audrey who will also be one. It is going to be a dress-up party since their birthdays are so close to Halloween. Bennett is having a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party. I am so feaking excited about Bennett's party. He loves the VHC and I have gotten some great ideas off the internet. We are going to decorate his room with the bedding from Pottery Barn Kids (OMG CUTE). His Grandma Jackie just ordered everything for him yesterday as a gift. All of that is definitely a bright spot in all of the difficulty lately.

Bad Blogger!

It's been awhile...a very busy while. I'm having a hard time organizing any coherent thoughts for this post, so my apologies in advance.

We have been home from the ND/MT trip for about 10 days. Overall it was a good time, with a little bit of drama mixed in just for fun. Being at the in-laws house in ND was relaxing. Bernie took a lot of naps and we got to do fun things with Bennett. We went to the train museum and the zoo. We've been to the zoo in Denver a couple of times, and while it is of course bigger, it is not necessarily better. The one in Bismarck is easier to get through and sooooo much less busy. It's just a better time for Bennett who is still too young to fully appreciate the variety/bigness in Denver. The boy really just wants to squeal at the ducks and geese after all. I got a pedicure with my MIL and Bernie and I even got nine holes of golf in. That's a first since Vivian was born and it was very enjoyable.

About halfway through our time there, I found out that my dad fell and broke his hip while staying with my aunt in Seeley Lake. He was taken to Missoula where he had the entire thing replaced. Then we transferred him back to Great Falls to do his rehab at MRM. There was some initial drama with him freaking out the first night/day, but he seems to have settled in as well as can be expected. I think he will already be leaving next week if all goes well. At first, my family and I were feeling like he couldn't leave again because he just isn't safe. But, he's going to fall no matter where he is. And at least he is happier being with family. So it sounds like he is going to stay with my uncle Joe and his family in northern Wyoming for a bit. I'm afraid something will happen and he will get stuck down there, but that's what everyone wants to do. My saint of an aunt Kathy needs a well-deserved break. After Wyoming, I don't know what will happen. The thought of him in our tri-level stair-filled house is scary now and I don't think we will be able to take him on.

Things were low-key in GF other than stuff related to my dad. We ate out a few times, saw my family, and did a little bit of class reunioning. I am very glad we only did the Hi Ho meetup. That was plenty of seeing high school people for me for the next ten years. It was of course great to see Sara and Amy Ophus and a select few other people.

Vivian's skin is looking so much better. It must have taken awhile for the dairy to completely clear her system, but she is looking all sparkly and healthy now. She still has a couple of crease areas that like to flare up, but those are easily remedied with Cetaphil or the steroid cream. The two baths a day thing can be a bit time consuming, but I will ask the allergist at her follow-up in a few weeks if we can knock it down to one. And I'm still losing weight...so cutting out the dairy is good for something!

Bennett's developmental evaluation was today. It wasn't overly long or traumatic like I thought it was going to be. It took about two hours and mostly just consisted of him playing with the evaluation team. I felt good about what they saw. It seemed like a fair picture of what Bennett is on a daily basis. I was talking with Bennett's OT last week about stating pre-school. She felt like he was ready. There are a million options in the area. We will likely talk more about this at his 6 month evaluation in September. I'm thinking it won't be until January and only a two half day a week type of thing. It's crazy to even think about it!

Our garden is awesome this year! We are finally growing some fruitful plants. We have tons of tomatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, and swiss chard. Next year, I think we will plant the peppers in pots and use the space to plant some garlic. My flowers have been neglected, but oh well.

I am organizing local Preeclampsia Foundation volunteers to work at a patient education booth at the American Association of Birth Centers conference in Denver the first week in September. I don't have a problem with birth centers/natural birthing type stuff, but I am afraid we are going to get lots of bullshit from some practitioners about how if "women just ate this/that they wouldn't get preeclampsia," and "I've never seen preeclampsia in my practice" crap. I really hope that since the director of the conference invited the PF herself, this won't be the case. That should keep me busy for the rest of the month before Promise Walk planning starts up again in September/October!

We are going on vacation soon. Well, as much as our yearly trip to North Dakota and Montana counts as a vacation. The driving tends to be a bit much and it will be interesting to see how the whole thing goes off with two kiddos. I'm sure the DVD player in the van will be getting some heavy use. There are a few other trips in the works. One of Bernie's good high school friends is getting married on Vivian's birthday in Minneapolis. I really enjoyed it when we where there a few years ago, so we plan to stay a few extra days. And it looks like we are spending Christmas in Phoenix...I won't complain about that.

We were planing to go to my high school reunion while in Great Falls, but things have been badly organized. And the only people I care to see aren't all that interested in going, so we will be meeting outside of the reunion.
i
My dad will be leaving Great Falls with. We will drop him off in Sheridan Wyoming where he will stay with my Uncle Joe and family until he decides he wants to come down to our house. I'm not nervous yet, but I'm sure it will be a challenge. He's going to need to be prepared for some serious kid noise and sleeping in the family room. He is doing ok in Seeley Lake, but has had a couple of anxiety meltdowns related to trying to stop his meds cold turkey. It seems like he has learned his lesson, but I never count on anything with him.

It seems we have finally figured out Vivian's skin. Her eye area got really bad about 12 days after I cut out the dairy. That coupled with a three hour vomiting episode got me thinking that it must be something else. She saw the allergist on Monday and the only thing she tested allergic to was indeed dairy. The skin test didn't look like much, but the blood test was 3 on a scale from one to 6. So definitely no dairy for her or for me until we are done nursing. Her growing out of it is iffy. We will check yearly to see what is going on. Her skin is looking much better now. It must have taken a bit longer for the dairy to clear her system (that and the food I ate at the restaurant the night before the puking episode must have had dairy in it). She is also allergic to dogs,but Hailey isn't near her hardly ever. The doc didn't think that had anything to do with her recent flare up.

We had our first intake appointment for Bennett's autism appointment. It was just a short interview with the psychologist for Bernie and me. I have to make a video of him playing with other kids and fill out yet more paperwork before they will schedule the actual evaluation. I'm hoping to get all of that done before we leave.

Our anniversary was Friday. We didn't do anything too exciting as our baby sitter wimped out. But Bernie did surprise me with a massage at a local spa (an awesome one btw) and flowers. The flowers had five red roses for the number of years we have been married, two white ones for our babies, and one yellow gerber daisy for Hailey. I was impressed with the thought that went into it! I didn't do anything for him, but there might be a surprise in the works for when we get home!

Marlena and the boys stopped by for a night on their way back to Great Falls. We had a lovely day full of gabbing as usual.