Just a spoon full of sugar.....

Holy Cow....could it rain anymore!? My grass and flowers are lovin' this but my kiddos are not. We're getting bored in this here house! But I sure do like the fall feeling that it has brought about! I can't wait to get some pumpkin and apple scented candles for the house and to start putting out my little pumpkin decorations.

Gracie has begun her medicine and so far we are pleased with how it has worked. Her focus is more intent, she makes eye contact, and can follow directions a lot better than before. She brought home a coloring sheet from school on Tuesday when she was not on medication and when compared to the paper she colored on Wednesday on medication it is like night and day. I took a picture of it and will post it below! Now she will color for hours! (literally!) There have been a few negative effects that we will have to deal with....she's a little bit of a bully with other kids, weepy at times, and doesn't always eat lunch (unless it's pizza). We're so thankful that this is all finally coming together. Our goal is to get her ready for Kindergarten and I think that is very possible. God has been so good to her and we're so thankful for that.

She also started Speech Therapy and the therapist had good things to say. She was pleased with her ability to mimic speech and her attempts at speaking although most wasn't understandable. She also gets Speech Therapy at school to Tuesdays and Thursdays - so that's 3 days a week of Speech.

These days I've been very busy driving her from one place to the next between school, and each therapy session....not to mention the cost of all of this! Matt has been making the financial sacrifices there. He's worked a lot of overtime to enable us to afford this $400/mth. expense that we feel is well worth it! Zade, too, has been making sacrifices. The Cooks waiting room isn't very exciting and the few toys they have are getting pretty boring to him since he's there twice a week with me and Gracie. And bless his heart, he always thinks we're getting in the car to go somewhere fun and its usually just to take Gracie to either school or therapy. That's why he enjoys church and preschool so much because those places are for him. He's a good and patient little brother!

My grandparents are in town from Oregon and they came by to see us the other day. Below are some pics of my Papaw playing on the floor with the kids. Be forwarned - one is of his teeth coming out. It is to the horror of my Memaw that I post this one, but I thought it was funny. He used to do this to me when I was little and I was not fond of it! He's a good Papaw that still loves to play on the floor with the kids despite his age!

I'm also posting some pics of the kids at the movies today. We went to $.50 Monday to see "UP" and then we played for a while in the arcade. It was a great way to spend the rainy day! I hope all of you are staying as dry as possible. I know we're all about to go coo-coo indoors but I know we'll all survive! Happy football watching! It's Monday Night!

The Greatest Birthday Ever!

My birthday was yesterday and I turned 31. I know, I'm an old lady. It's funny because I really don't feel that old. I know everybody probably says that but it's really how I feel. Anyways, I had the greatest birthday ever yesterday. To start the day off, Gracie wished me a "Hap Birday" and that in itself was the greatest gift ever. I have the greatest and cutest kids in the world. They crack me up all the stinkin' time! After Matt woke up we went to lunch at my fav restaurant, Chili's, (I know, I have low-standards - but I love it!) Then we headed out to my sisters. Anybody who knows anything about me at all knows I'm a big Texas Longhorn Fan and yesterday was the first game of the season! So my sister made my birthday party a Longhorn-themed party. It was so cute! She had a Longhorns table cloth, napkins, cups, and plates. We put on cute Longhorn tattoos and everybody wore their burnt orange! And just because you're a grown-up doesn't mean you can't have a bounce-house waterslide at your birthday party....that kept the kids good and entertained! My awesome brother-in-law made THE BEST food ever. We had grilled chicken drumsticks, ribs, and spicy sausage links, baked beans, potato salad, pea salad, and rolls. Then my mom made our favorite chocolate cake! While the food was cooking we played a fun game called Corn Hole. Then my clever sister came up with a Football Trivia game for all the adults to play and win cool Longhorn prizes!It was fun! Once the game started my sister and I showed my mom all about the world of Facebook! It was such an awesome night. I felt so lucky to get to be with my family and have such a great time! My kids always love going to my sister's house and so do I! So, thanks Crystal and Ashley for putting on such a fun night and thanks to Matt and my sweet little, rotten kids for making me such a happy, happy girl! I love you all!

Good news and First Day Pics.....

Here's some pics from the first day of Gracie's school. I was a bad mom and forgot to take pics of Zade at the preschool. I think a friend took some so if I get those I will post them soon.
We are so super excited...we just found out today that Gracie cleared the waitlist for Speech Therapy and will begin on Wednesday! Yay! That was an awesome answer to this Mama's prayers! I can not wait to carry on a understandable conversation with my Baby Girl! Go Gracie!

Since I last blogged......

Well, good grief! It's been almost 5months since I've last updated this blog. Who knows if anyone even reads it anymore. We had a good summer...uneventful, but good. Matt and I went on vacation in June......ALONE! (woo-hoo!) We went to Canyon Lake again like we did last summer. We had a great time.....we "floated" down the Guadalupe River. I say "floated" in quotes because the water was so low at points that we had to get out and just walk the river. But either way, it was fun. We visited Matt's aunt and uncle in Fredericksburg.....Shopped in San Marcos (of course)....then went into town and went to the movies twice! It wasn't a super exciting event filled vacation which was a-okay with us. We had a great time relaxing and just being alone. By the time the week was over we were ready to get home and see our babies!
In July, Zade turned 2! Boy was that fun! We had a big swimming party for him in the backyard that I had a blast planning. I got so excited planning it that the invites went out like a month in advance! He had a great time at the party so it was all worth it!
The rest of the summer me and the kids spent swimming and working on our tans. (Their tans are a lot better than mine, sadly)
Gracie did begin her Occupational Therapy (OT) with Ms. Angie at Cooks. It seems to be going well but there is a barrier that we keep running into when it comes to her understanding of directions and her attention and focus. She is still on the waiting list for Speech Therapy through Cooks. Last we heard there are only 5 kids ahead of her and she has a good shot at clearing soon the waitlist since she does not need an afternoon spot. We are just really ready to get her in and see some progress. Life will be a lot easier on us all if she could understand what she is being told and be able to express herself. It was a long summer when it came to church.....our Wednesday night Kids Club only operates through the summer and therefore, the kids have to sit with their parents in grown-up church. Lordy, that was hard! Gracie did not ever grasp the concept of being quiet in church. First, she would want to go see Pa-paw who's currently preaching, then she'd just want to talk back to him like they were having a conversation between just the two of them. Man, it was hard. It's hard to tell your kid who you have on a waiting list for Speech to stop talking. Or to ask your ADHD child to sit still for an hour an listen to Pa-paw preach about the end times. Yeah, not easy. But - we survived and Kids Club is back and we love it!
Speaking of ADHD, we went to Gracie's follow-up appointment at Child Study Center a few weeks ago. We made a tough decision and have decided to put Gracie on medication to help with her attention issues. Matt and I have agreed that if this changes Gracie in any negative way we will take her off or have the doctor lower her dosage until we're satisfied. We do know that it will affect her appetite and we're not too thrilled about that. She's already a tiny girl but has recently developed a healthy appetite. Inspite of that, we're hoping it will help her to sit down and focus long enough to start grasping some of the concepts she's been slow in grasping.
School has just recently begun. Gracie started back to her PPCD class at Bluebonnet Elementary. This year she got a new teacher. I must say, I was a little apprehensive about this. We love love love Mrs. Morton and think of her as part of our family and part of Team Gracie and I wasn't sure if we...okay I could do this without her. However, Gracie loves her new teacher Mrs. Dahl and things seem to be going pretty well. They got a new classroom and conveniently are right down the hall from Mrs. Morton.
We also started back up at HCP this week. Zade is in a class with his buddies Drew and Ramsey. His teachers keep telling me he's a good kid, so I'm not sure why he's pulling the wool over their eyes, but they'll see soon enough! But, I'm really excited to see him grow and develop friendships that I hope last forever. They say he and Ramsey play really well together and fight really well, too. Lol.
Matt picks Gracie up from Bluebonnet on Tues and Thurs and brings her to the preschool and she's in my friend's class just next door. She seems to have a good time!
I'm teaching again with my friend Courtney this year. This will be our 4th year together. You would think we'd have a good system and be able to just jump in and be so organized - nope - not so much. I'm sure we'll get our junk together soon enough!
Oh yeah, and I'm still chipping away at my college degree. It took me all summer long to remember to register for fall classes, so I ended up being able to find availability in only 1 online class that I need to take. So....Music Appreciation (Jazz) it is....zzzzzzz. Oh well!
Well, now that I've wasted an hour of your time rambling on about NOTHING, I'll end. Night all!