Going Away

1. So we didn't sell our house which means we took it off the market.
2. Ryan's company only paid for a few weeks of living expenses so almost all of our savings has been depleted trying to have us live separate lives the past 7 months.
3. We were faced with a tough decision about what to do.
4. Tough decision made - Ryan's going away again. I can't actually say the name or I will start tearing up and if you know me that doesn't happen very easily.
5. Not sure how I'm gonna survive the next year without at least seeing Ryan on the weekends.
6. Fortunately I'll have a traveling allowance of sorts so I will take the kids once a month and go somewhere, anywhere so long as it's not here.
7. Ryan leaves in about a week and I don't have grad school anymore to keep me preoccupied so I'm hoping to start going crazy with taking pictures, scrapbooking, and sewing(got a sewing machine for Xmas) just so that it keeps me busy.

We're gonna miss you while you're gone but we will be counting down the days until you get to come home on each R&R!!!

Mackenzie's birthday

The week of Mackenzie's birthday Schroeder got real sick with a cold. He was coughing and sneezing and just pitiful and by Thursday Mackenzie was sick as well. We called grandparents and told them they were welcome to come but they risked the chance of getting sick. Grandparents all decided to come anyways. The day of her birthday party Mackenzie slept halfway through her party. She wouldn't wake up, poor girl. We finally were able to wake her and then everybody got to watch her eat. She wasn't sure what was going on and why everybody stared at her while she ate.

When it came to eat her cake she couldn't figure out why we were letting her get messy and dig in, she kept hesitating when it came to her cake. Presents didn't really interest her until they were opened up and played with. Overall we had fun and she was able to enjoy her birthday for a little while.

Mackenzie's big present was a Cozy Coupe. We gave it to her after she woke up, so she looks a little tired in the pictures.

Successful Surgery

Schroeder's surgery was successful. When we got to the hospital they took us back to a preop room pretty quickly. The nurse let Schroeder play in a wagon and then it was time for his happy cocktail. It definitely made him happy, I wish I had recorded how goofy he became after drinking that medicine. The nurses took my baby away and within 25 minutes the dr came to tell us it was all done. He said the adnoids were so large he could only see adnoids. Oiy! Dr. Toung said we should notice a big difference immediately. If he can sleep and eat then I will be a happy mama.

He's been home a few days now and he's starting to feel more like himself. His throat hurts but he is starting to eat pudding and drink his juice so I think he's on the road to recovery.

Surgery

Schroeder went to the ENT a week ago and the dr. decided Schroeder's tonsils needed to come out. He told us we could wait until he's 3 but then he might not make any progress in speech. He's in speech because he's not talking, so we decided to go ahead and schedule surgery. He will have his tonsils out this Thursday, Jan. 28. Since he's under the age of 3 he has to stay in the hospital overnight. I'm hoping he's so groggy afterwards that he just sleeps, otherwise we will have one freaked out little boy on our hands.

The dr. said he will have a very bad sore throat and that days 4-7 will be the worst of his recovery. He also told me to have Schroeder relax and not move much, but if you've ever met Schroeder he's never one to sit still. We'll have to see how this recovery goes.

He's been to see his speech teacher, Ms. Christie, twice now and he seems to like her. She plays with him and acts really silly so that helps. We have homework we work on at home and he has to either sign or attempt the word when he is talking with me. For example, if I say "bubbles" then he has to say a word that sounds similar to bubbles and has two parts to it. He usually says "da dl" which is close enough. Ms. Christie said after surgery his tongue will have more space to lay down correctly which will help him be able to say the sounds better. Speech has already him be more aware that words are important to use so he has been trying to say more things and even trying to repeat me when I say things to Mackenzie. Hopefully getting his tonsils out will make it easier for him to speak and he will start talking our heads off!!

Speakin

So Schroeder is still not speaking and it's been a concern for us for about half a year because we kept thinking he should at least be saying "Mama" and "Daddy". The best he can do is "Da" and he's 2 1/2. I took him to an audiologist in November and his hearing is great and he did so well in the little hearing booth the audiologist really wished she had recorded him because he responded so perfectly.

The next step was getting him evaluated by an speech therapist. I took him this past Friday and it turns out he does need speech and also a visit to an ENT. She said that he has apraxia tendencies which means his brain doesn't send the signal to his mouth to make the speech motions and movements. There's more to it but that's the simple version. Also, he has a tongue thrust and part of that is because of his ENLARGED tonsils. She was talking to me about how his bite is off when he bites down and that it could be caused by a tongue thrust. So she proceeds to look at his tonsils and gasps. She handed me the flashlight and made me look and his tonsils are so big you can't see down his throat. I guess that's why he's only requested fruit cups the past week!!

She said that with enlarged tonsils the tongue is not able to rest correctly and that causes a tongue thrust. The tongue thrust also makes it hard for him to make sounds correctly. Anyways, she suggested speech and a visit to the ENT to see about his tonsils. I'm nervous about him possibly needing surgery, but if he needs it so be it. I am just so glad I'm not a crazy person thinking my child should be speaking by now. He wants to communicate with us and has learned to point, prod, and yell at us to get our attention and has learned to drag us places to tell us what he wants. I am so glad that he will be getting speech and hope the new therapist will provide us better ways to communicate with each other as well as help him begin to use his mouth muscles so that he can start speaking. He starts Monday so I will have to let ya'll know how it goes.

P.S. - I have birthday pics from Mackenzie's party as well as Christmas pics that I will be posting soon.

Decorating the tree

The weekend after Thanksgiving we decorated our little tree and this was the tree the kids got to help us decorate.

Not sure what everyone's doing.

She's decided she can help out by trying to pull the lights off the tree, sorry Mackenzie they are attached to the tree.

Posing for the camera

Brother and sister putting on ornaments

The kids loved being able to help put ornaments on the tree. I think Mackenzie's favorite part was posing for the camera.

Playing in Mama's Room

My kids love playing in my room, so we are often all in there listening to music and playing around. I was able to get a few pictures this day while the kids played.

He was acting like an inchworm and crawling along the floor.

That tongue is her new favorite friend. She shows it often.

Schroeder loves playing peek-a-boo, so he loves to hide behind the curtains and have us wonder where he could be hiding.

I wish I knew what he is thinking when I snapped the picture.

Halloween Fun

The Zoo

We decided to go to Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo the morning of Halloween. The weather said it would be cool in the morning, so our kids didn't wear their costumes to the zoo, but the animals didn't mind. In fact, it appeared several times that the animals were posing just for us. Wasn't that so nice and considerate of them.

Too cute, my boy is too cute for words, of course I'm pretty biased!

Fall Festival

Our church didn't have a trunk-or-treat this year, but we managed to find one near us that had a fall festival of sorts on Halloween, so we decided our kids would get dressed up and we do that instead of going door to door for candy. They had all kinds of inflatable bouncing things that were too big for Schroeder to do, but they did have a trunk-or-treat, a small petting zoo and some fun games to play. We had a great time.

His first score for the day.

My pirate, arggh

He got bandaged in the Kooky clinic.

Have sword, will use. Give me my candy!

sitting pretty, loving this picture

The Zoo with a Buddy

Valerie and I are friends and lucky for us we each have a boy and even luckier than that they like to play together. It had been raining forever and ever around here. The days it didn't rain the outside was so muddy that we couldn't go out to play. We have a membership to the zoo and I had been wanting to take the kids but the weather wouldn't allow it. Finally we had two days of nice weather and Valerie and I made the zoo the play date. The boys had fun. They got to run around on a gorgeous day looking at animals. Mackenzie was content just to hang out in the stroller. It was a great day!

Checking out elephants

Going solo

The baby elephant

Watching this giraffe and trying to figure out what it was doing was a hoot. It spread its' legs, went down, stood up again, spread its' legs further and bent over again all to get some greens on the ground. I have never seen a girafe do that for any reason.


Hmm, do I like flamingos?
Just hanging out!

Our pumpkin

Saying cheese over and over again after noticing my camera.

This is as close as Schroeder got to helping dady take out the pumpkin guts.

Playing in the kitchen while the boys worked.

Schroeder decorated his own pumpkin.