Monday: Vomit, Tuesday: Poison Control....

After a day like yesterday, one would think it can't get much worse...right??? Not so much.... I was tired and unmotivated when I woke up, but I knew that I had to run some paperwork over to the school board office. It was due today...I didn't have a choice. Perhaps I shouldn't have procrastinated and then I could have stayed at home in my pajamas.

All went well untill we got back to Janet's house. The thought was that I'd change diapers there and then load up and go home so I could put the kids right to bed. Not the case. Janet and I turned our backs for a few seconds and in walks Malachi with cat litter all over his hands and face and....in his mouth!!! I had the baby wipes next to me so I grabbed and handfull and cleaned him up. We immediately went to the car to go home...I was stressed out! The reasons...1. My son just ate from a dirty litter box. 2. I'm not sure how much he ate and if it was just litter or had some kitty chunks too. 3. I know that pregnant women shouldn't be around cat litter, but what about young children???

As I'm loading the kids, Janet calls our lovely local ER to ask if Malachi should be seen or not, as this wasn't something we were really familiar with how to deal with. Their answer, "We can not give medical advice over the phone." Are you flipping kidding me??????? We're not looking for a diagnosis, just an idea if he should be brought in...so much for an on call doctor at the ER. DUH!!!

Then I call my own doctor's office and talk to the nurse who has helped a lot in the medical care of the triplets. She gave me the number for poison control and told me to call them. I called them and had a drawn out conversations with them where I had to ask for clarification several times and I had to repeat what I was saying lots of time. It seems that the lady I got was not very good at speaking and understanding English. Long story short.....they said to watch for a fever, rash, and swollen glands in his neck. I'm thinking..."great, my kids has a cold which involves a fever and swollen glands...I guess I'll watch for a rash." I head home and put the kids to sleep.

Nap Time Activities:

• I try to renew my McAfee security online three times and each time I get a system error message. I call them and get a nice man who seems very helpful, but is very hard to understand. After a very long conversations with him we get things figured out. Next I uninstall one McAfee program and then install a new one. A bizillion restarts later, the kids are waking up and my computer is finally updated and protected once again.
• The phone rings...it's poison control calling to check on Malachi. Oh, how nice...they are checking on him. That's wonderful....or so I thought. Here's our conversation....

Lady: Hello, Sharon?

Me: Yes.

Lady: This is (so and so...I can't remember her name) from poison control. How's your daughter?

Me: My SON is currently sleeping and seems to be fine.

Lady: What did he get into again?

Me: Cat litter.

Lady: You know what to look for?!?!?! (not sure if this was a statement or question).

Me: Yes.

Lady: Okay, bye. ***click***

How frustrating! First of all Malachi is a BOY which makes him my SON. Second of all, you have all the information written in front of you so why act like you don't have a clue. So annoying.....

So, the kids wake up. Malachi seems to be doing well. We'll keep an eye on him for a couple of days and hope for the best. I know some day this will all be funny, but right now I'm so annoyed and irritated that I can't see the humor! Maybe tomorrow....

Speaking of tomorrow. I plan to stay in my pajamas and never leave the comfort of my own home...no matter what. With vomitting on Monday and eating cat litter on Tuesday, I'm terrified at what Wednesday will bring. Anyone know of a place I can buy a little bubble to keep my children in????

Maniac Monday

Okay, here's how the day went.

7:00 - Wake up, shower, dress, move truck so Josh can get car out, have cup of coffee, check email...think, "I'm feeling pretty good, excited about the day, hope the kids are in a good mood.

8:00 - Put Wiggles on the tv for the kids. Get the three bundles of joy out of bed, change diapers, feed breakfast, get dressed, play phone tag with Brenda.

8:45 - Load kids up, drop off water bill and internet bill on my way out of town. Head to Ypsilanti to meet Jenna at Babies R Us.

9:35 - In turn lane to get on expressway, hear gagging and vomiting, turn around and see Madelynn covered in her breakfast. Shoot across three lanes of traffic into gas station. Clean her up, change into her only extra outfit, clean up carseat, use one of the boys' extra outfits to cover the wet spot on the car seat. Put Madelynn back in and continue heading to Ypsilanti. ***I think Madelynn threw up because of the drainage, as she is experiencing a little cold.***

10:00 - Arrive at Babies R Us and unload children into cart. Meet with Jenna and Todd to help them get their baby registry going. Maddie is doing well so we decide to stay. Many laps around store, trio in and out of cart, 2 sets of diaper changes, buy a few items (another outfit for Maddie just in case, motrin because she felt warm, more wipes since I used all the ones I had to clean her up a little while ago, juice to occupy the kids, new cups for them too, and a few things for Jenna's baby shower).

12:55 - Loading trio and purchases into truck to head home. Kids are tired of being confined. Mommy not looking forward to hour ride home. Decide to go through drive through and attempt eating in the car for the very first time.

1:10 - Run through McDonalds. Give trio their fries...no one wanted anything to do with the nuggets. Back on the road.

1:20 - On expressway heading home. Everything is good....Then I hear gagging and vomiting from the back seat...AGAIN!!! Quick glance over shoulder and see Malachi covered in his chewed up french fries. Get off on first exit and pull into gas station. Clean up Malachi, take his clothes off of him, clean up carseat, break into the new wipes I just bought, decide NOT to put a new outfit on him since we were just going home, put him back in car seat, cover him up with his blanket, give fries back to him (his choice...not mine), throw yucky stuff in a pile on the floor, and climb back in to attempt to get home.

1:25 - Boys are asleep, Maddie isn't looking so good....

1:30 - On the road...call Josh to cancel chiropractor appointments AND MY MASSAGE since we have two vomiting 2 year olds. My massage...the one time when it's all about me. I only get that once every 2 weeks if I'm lucky. But I'm a mom, the kids come first so I didn't think twice.

1:40 - Maddie is asleep.

2:00 - Pull in the drive way. Unload kids, diaper bag, purchases, blankets, toys, purse, yucky stuff (2 piles worth). Put in Veggie Tales to entertain kids so I can unpack everything. Kids seem okay, but are sluggish.

2:45 - Janet gets here to watch Madelynn and Aiden so I can take Malachi to his ENT appointment. I warn her of the vomiting and warn against the giving of more food.

3:15 - Arrive at Dr's office hoping they can get us in a few minutes early. Good news....Malachi's ears are great and he is cleared from her. He no longer needs to go back to her unless we notice problems with his ears or hearing issues. We're happy!!!!

4:00 - Arrive home. Kids are doing well. Seem to be more normal except for crankiness of not having a nap, except for a few minutes in the car.

4:25 - Janet leaves. I'm on my own until Josh gets home.

4:30 - Kids are out of control! Arguing and fighting over toys, Aiden spilled a large amount of bubbles on the couch, Madelynn is crying uncontrollably for know reason, Malachi is attacking the cat, Aiden throws a toy and hit me with it. I want to SCREAM!!!!!

5:10 - Josh finally gets home to save me!!!

5:15 - Kids even more bonkers. Josh cooking dinner and I'm trying to fold some laundry. Aiden throws another toy...this time hitting me in the face. Mommy ready to explode like a HUGE volcano!!! Aiden gets time out....cries uncontrollably.

5:30 - Dinner, Malachi crying as he eats...gagging...We try to comfort him and pray that we aren't going to have to clean up more vomit. Madelynn will only eat green beans. Aiden will only eat stuffing. Malachi will only eat scalloped potatoes. Mommy and Daddy trying to eat anything while calming kids.

6:10 - Bath - Daddy is giving kids a bath. I talk to my mom on the phone. It's actually a little bit peaceful right now.

6:45 - Madelynn out of the tub. Phone conversation done. She wants to be held by mommy.

6:50 - Malachi out of tub and also wants to be held by mommy. We sit in the chair with a blanket...all three of us.

6:55 - Aiden and daddy arguing about pooping in the tub vs the diaper vs the potty chair. Aiden screaming and crying...daddy screaming....Mommy wishing she would have had her massage......

7:30 - After a bit of cuddle time, some medicine for 2/3 of the trio, and milk cups, we put them to bed. Aiden complains of being cold ***This is his new way of prolonging bedtime as he knows I'll go and get him a long sleeve*** Aiden cries because he wants his Wiggles guitar to sleep with.....BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS A WIGGLES GUITAR TO SLEEP WITH......Mommy comes to the rescue with guitar....everyone is calm.

7:35 - "Mommy" "Mommmmmmy" "Mommmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy" I hear from behind the closed door. My response, "night night, I love you". I walk to the other side of the house where I hope I can't hear it anymore. I pray they go to sleep and I can finally rest. Please Lord, let them sleep through the night.

8:00 - Updating Blog! Almost done....going to get a large bowl of ice cream and then head off to bed. Reflecting on the day....I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE TO CANCEL MY MASSAGE!!! Oh well, the life of a mother is never dull and boring....

You know, the past 32 months hasn't been all that hard having three babies. People ask us all the time how we do it...the truth is, we just do. It's all we know. Yes, I have three babies but my life normally doesn't go like today did. Normally things are much smoother. So, to peoples' questions about "How do you do it?" I just try to keep my spirits up and find the funny. I'm cleaning up one child who is full of vomit and laughing and talking with the other two. It's my life and I wouldn't change it for anything! **well.....maybe I won't cancel the massage next time** :)

I feel like it's been forever since I posted last! Life is extremely busy right now. We are constantly going here or there and honestly, I can't wait for summer to actually begin for us. You know, the kind of summer a teacher dreams of...chillin out at home with the kids getting to do only what you want to do. I've yet to be able to do that. I've tried twice, but both times I've gotten calls from someone and had to get the kids packed up and go. This week will be equally as busy, but we do have a break from toddler group and speech therapy since the LISD has a two week summer vacation.

Anyways, what have we been up to lately? Toddler group and speech twice a week, working in my new classroom to clean out everything left behind by the teacher who was in that room last year, went to Samantha's 11th birthday party (happy birthday Sam!), and also to a mothers of multiples sale where I got to sell a few of my items and also talk with some really great moms who are just like me...mother's to triplets (and more).

In our spare time this week, we went swimming in the back yard on a couple of days. We had to figure out some way to stay cool when it was so warm out. Staying in the house with the air conditioner was nice, but being cooped up with three 2 year olds all day doesn't always make for the best situation! :) Aiden loves the hose and always has to be in charge of it...even pushing mom and dad out of the way. Madelynn loves swimming in the pool. She's the only one to lay in the water and kick her legs around. Malachi loves the water and is in and out of the pool frequently. The poor boy gets so cold so quickly that one dip in the pool and he shivers the remainder of the time. We tried putting a swim shirt on him and that helps a little bit, but the kid has no meat on his bones! All three love when we put the slide in the pool. After much coaxing, I go them all to go down on their bellies head first. Madelynn was the only one to figure out how to keep her head up and she really enjoyed it and continued doing it. Aiden did it once and got water in his eyes...apparently he's like his mommy when it comes to water in his eyes. He wasn't thrilled. Malachi tried it a couple of times but kept swallowing the water and stopped doing it.

Of the fun you can have with a diaper box!

What happens when the kids are playing and I'm refilling our diaper basket? You end up with kids playing in/with a diaper box. Check out the fun pictures.... Now it's your turn for some fun. Can you figure out which kid is in the box? I'll give you a hint...one child didn't want to play! ha ha ha...Please play along and leave your answer in the comments section or you can email me.

Box #1























Box #2

Father's Day Part 2: Daddy

Okay, so this post should have gone first but I was struggling with just what to say about my wonderful husband and father to our three beautiful babies (well...toddlers). Josh is an amazing daddy. He takes care of all four of us and very rarely complains. He works all day, then comes home and often makes dinner without complaining, then it's play time. He interacts with the kids and plays with them managing to find the abilities to play with all of them at the same time without anyone getting upset. he changes diapers and he gives the kids a bath nearly every time, as I haven't bathed them in a very long time. This is a special daddy time. I love to listen to their conversations and the games they play. He teaches them things all the time too. He sings and dances to the Wiggles and Veggie Tales.

The kids love their daddy! Since school has let out and I've been home for the summer, I've heard the kids ask for daddy what seems like 100's of times each day. When I get them up in the morning they all want to know where dada is. It's never "hi mommy", it's always, "where's dada?" They even point to his things around the house and like to play with his hats.

I can't find the appropriate words to describe my husband. He's amazing, supportive, caring, and hands on. I can't imagine anyone else being as important to our family as he is.

This year, the kids got their daddy a World's Greatest Dad, Hands Down t-shirt with their hand prints on it. He wore it with pride on Fathers Day. We also made him a framed poem called "Walk a little slower Daddy" and we put their foot prints on it. I'll have to get a picture of it and post it. It turned out incrediably cute!

Josh, I love you and I can't imagine the world without you. Happy Father's Day again (a little late). Malachi, Aiden, and Madelynn have the best daddy in the world!

Fathers Day 2009 Part 1: The Toledo Zoo

Fathers day this year was a blast. A large group of us went to the Toledo Zoo for the day. It was a special weekend at the zoo too! They had fathers day celebrations, the grand opening of the new children's neighborhood (sponsored by Fisher Price Little People), and also a live Little People show celebrating Fisher Price's Little People's 50th anniversary. The kids loved the show and were actually interested in it for 3/4 of it. It was about 40 minutes long and they started getting a little stir crazy in the end. We visited the new children's area and the enterance had these great animal mask things hanging there. The kids could walk up behind them and look at the eyes or intereact with them in some way. The bird let the kids hang from it's feet. Aiden and Madelynn really loved them. Malachil was very tired and this point and just stood staring at them. I eventually did get him to stand near the cheetah mask for a picture. I especially liked the fish. Aiden has been addicted to the Jonah Veggie Tales movie and sing-along for awhile lately, so I told him to stick his head in the fish's mouth just like Jonah. He said, "Jonah" and then put his head in it! Too cute.... We also rode the train, saw some (but not all) animals, and got to pet some goats. I can't wait to take them again this summer and check out the remainder of the children's area that we didn't get to. We missed so much, but enjoyed what we did see.

More to come on fathers day 2009. We had quite a bit of fun when we got home too and more on daddy....

Happy Father's Day!!!

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the dads out there. Take a break, relax, and enjoy being a daddy, grandpa, or even a god father. Happy Father's Day!!!

Photo Friday

Not much to say today. I just wanted to post a few pictures that I took a few days ago because they're cute.

New Bikes...Very Cool

Yesterday the kids got an early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Ketola. They got these great new tricycles that even I wish I would have had when I was little. The kids really seemed to enjoy them a lot. Maddie even used the pedals a little bit until she saw her brothers pushing with their feet. :) Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Who are you???

So, I'm getting lots of visitors, but I'm not sure who everyone is. I'd love to know who is reading about my beatiful trio so please leave a comment telling me who you are. Thanks for playing.

LISD Playgroup

Just a quick update before I fall asleep. We started playgroup today and it went extremely well. The kids adjusted great and there were only two areas that were a little difficult for them. The first was circle time. They had to sit and participate in songs, a story, and a few other quick activities. The second was when we said good bye. They sing a song for each child and then the child has to say bye or wave. When they do, they get bubbles blown just for them to chase and catch. The kids aren't used to these two situations so it will take a couple times for them to get it, but overall I'm happy with how things went.

There were about 9 kids there and many were siblings, some requiring services and some not. I really liked that all the kids did the same things, except of course during the play time. There was gross motor time (and the PT was there), then play time, circle time, snack, and more play time. Then they cleaned up and said bye. The kids did well following directions and even cleaned up with little encouragement and pushing needed. The time flew by...

We also figured out their summer schedule. The LISD doesn't go to summer hours until the last week of June/first week of July. They'll have two weeks off and then start summer hours. We'll do playgroup on Mondays with all three. Malachi will also get a home visit from Michelle, the speech pathlogist and Autism specialist on Thursdays. Starting next Monday, Madelynn will get her more intense speech therapy twice a week in addition to playgroup. She'll miss the first 30 minutes of playgroup, but will be getting most of the same things in her special group, just more intensely taught. She'll get it twice a week even during the summer hours. :) I still have to figure out what to do with the boys during that time, but I'll figure it out. Worse case scenario they'll have to have a baby sitter for that 30 minutes...most likely Aunt Janet! :) We'll see though, the staff has been great about accomodating the trio. Aiden gets included in everything and he doesn't technically qualify for any services.

To sum it all up...I'm thrilled with the way today went and can't wait until Wednesday when we go back!

Potty Training Day 3: Success!?!?!?!?!?

48 pairs of toddler underwear - $60.00

laundry detergent -$5.00

use of washer, dryer, and city water - ????

Maddie going poop on the potty - priceless....

As opposed to a month supply of diapers at $180.00, I'd say the time and patience of potty training is going to pay off...even if just one gets it!

We're on day 3 of potty training, but this was the first nearly whole day of doing it. We've had about 15 accidents between the three kids, most of them happening on the tile floor in the kitchen. Great for easy clean up. A few on the carpet...thanks Ken and Diane for the great Christmas present - a carpet cleaner! In the upcoming weeks, I'm sure it will get LOTS of use!!!

In other news....Aiden has been hive free since he woke up on Saturday morning. We haven't given him any peanut butter or red dye. I'll probably give him a little bit of red dye tomorrow afternoon since we have strawberry milk in the fridge that needs to be used up. We'll see how it goes. More to come later on that.

Tomorrow we start playgroup at the LISD. I'm a little anxious about it, but not nervous. I'm sure the kids will adjust really well. They'll go twice this week and next, but then the LISD goes to summer hours so it's supposed to go down to once a week with Maddie getting a second more intencse speech therapy also. I'm still going to push for Malachi to get a second time a week too!

Other possibilities this summer:

• We are going to see about swim lessons for the kids during the month of July but we're working out the kinks in this since Aunt Janet (our third adult) will be going on vacation the last week of swim lessons.
• Story time at the local County library and possibly at the City library depending when playgroup is during summer hours.
• Art in the park for parents and tots. This is one night a week for the whole summer. Toddlers get to paint, play with clay, and do lots of other really cool things.

I'm looking forward to keeping a little bit busy this summer, spending time with the trio, and having lots of fun! Oh, and of course continuing with potty training!!!

Potty Training Day 1 (and other updates)

What an exciting and busy day! We began potty training today...well...kinda. We went grocery shopping and decided to get the kids their 'big kid underwear' while we were there. They seemed pretty excited about it! When we got home they sat on their pottys and then we put some underwear on them. It was already 8:30pm so they were only in them for about 20 minutes, but NO accidents and heres the REALLY EXCITING part! Aiden went pee on his potty!!! He was so excited. He had to look at it. :) Then tell daddy about it while he was on the phone with work. :) He gave high fives and flushed it away. He kept saying, "I go pee on the potty". Isn't it cute??? Above are a few pictures of the kids in their new big kid underwear.

Now for the updates. Madelynn and Aiden had their eye appointments today. Both of them are great. Their eyes are dialated and will be until tomorrow some time so they'll be a little sensitive to the light.

Also, we went to the doctor today fro Aiden. He was free of all hives when he woke up this morning so she didn't really see anything. She checked his ears and temp just to make sure it's not something more. He was fine. The plan was to keep him on the Benadryl today and then wait anther day before exposing him to new foods again. BUT....he broke out in hives again tonight around 8:30. Not as bad as he was before, but still they were there. So, that will throw the whole schedule off. The doctor really thinks it is a reaction to peanut butter, but said it could also be strawberries, raspberries, kiwi fruit, or red dye. He's not had raspberries or kiwi so that can't be it. Apparently all of these items can cause a reaction like this up to 2 weeks after they were eaten. :( This could be a long process. We are going to do our best to cut the red dye as much as possible and the peanut butter all together until we get him cleared up. The kids have had a lot of red dye lately because of popcicles, koolaid, and strawberry milk. You don't really think about it until something like this happens. Now it's time to be more conscious of things. There types of allergies have the potential of being very dangerous so we're just thankful that Aiden is only getting hives and it's not affecting his breathing or anything else at this point. I'll update more when I find out.

An Eventful Day for Aiden

Aiden...Aiden....Aiden.... Those are the words that describe the day! Aiden had an eventful day today!

Aiden woke up today a little needy. He was a little on the cranky side today, but not enough to make us think that anything was really wrong. We thought maybe he was a little tired still as the kids have had a difficult time recovering from the change in their schedule this week. (Naps have gotten pushed to a later time, bed time has been pushed, and they've gotten up early a lot this week). So, we just blew it off and tried to make him as happoy as we could. We've noticed that he's had a few spots, like hives, on his belly for the past few days. They didn't stick around, but kinda came and went. He'd itch a tiny bit, but it didn't last more than a couple of minutes. No big deal...right? Has to be bug bites...we were outside in the evening on Tuesday! We had all sorts of answers for his hives.

Then tonight, Malachi accidently hit Aiden in the head (right above his eft eye) with the lid to one of their toy boxes. Aiden got really upset and his face became bright red. We calmed him down, but he redness didn't go away. Instead it seemed like his face was swelling a bit. He started scratching his neck, leg, arm, belly, and more. I took his clothing off of him only to find that he had hives and red splotches everywhere on his body. The poor little thing was so itchy and we couldn't do anything about it right then. We had some children's benadryl but didn't know how much to give him. (It's been a long time since we've used it). We called Aunt Janet for her opinion and she thought the Benadryl was a good idea...same as us, but didn't know how much either.

So, I called our wonderful doctor. (Yes, we can call her after hours!) We found out the correct dosage to give him. She's also going to squeeze him in first thing tomorrow morning to check him out. Isn't she great! We're not sure what has caused the hives. It could be...

• that he made contact with some clothes that were washed in a different detergent (Dreft). We ran out of our normal stuff and had some Dreft left from awhile ago. Dreft made the kids break out when they were infants (go figure) but I thought maybe they grew out of it. I don't think this is the case, because he had warmer clothing on today which had been washed and in his drawer since before the weather turned warmer. Besides, I haven't folded any of the clothese I washed in the other degergent...it's all in the basement sitting in baskets! :)

or...

• an allergy to something he ate. We can't put our finger on anything that he ate today or yesterday that was different, but he did have peanut butter and jelly sandwhichs earlier this week. The doctor said it could be a delayed reaction so once he clears up we'll have to slowly introduce peanut butter and then watch for a reaction. We've never paid attention to nut oils and things in products, but we've only given the kids actual peanut butter like three times in the past few months. They've also never had nuts of any kind. It could also be some other food that made him break out.

Our doctor thinks it's probably something he ate because the hives cover his entire body and if it was a detergent issue it would be more likely be just in the area that came into contact with it. We'll find out more tomorrow morning. We gave Aiden some Benadryl and after a little while he came to me rubbing his head and saying, "I'm tired". So sweet...

Earlier in the day, we had our first biting experience! Maddie and I were looking at a magazine and the boys were in the other room. Suddenly Malachi screams like something is really wrong. I go check out the situation and he runs up to me showing me his arm. AIDEN BIT HIM!!! I don't know why but poor Malachi has a bit mark on his arm now. Luckily the skin was not broken, but Malachi was sure in pain. I just hope that this isn't going to be a phase that the kids are going to go through. If so, I have to come up with something worse than a time out just to get my point across. Maybe a time out in their bed??? Hmmm......this could get interesting.

So, now my little angels are in bed sleeping soundly. I'd like to go peek on Aiden, but I'm hesitant since I might wake them all up while entering their room. I sure hope that he's going to recover from this and we'll figure out what started it. More to come tomorrow.... Also, Madelynn and Aiden have eye appointments.

Hearing Tests, ENT, and Goodbye Prairie

If you remember a few weeks ago when the kids were evaluated by Early On, both Aiden and Madelynn failed their left ear in the hearing screening they do. It was recommended that we wait a month and try again. Because of Malachi's hearing history I chose to be more proactive and make appointments for both of them to have official hearing tests done and then in to see the ENT. Their appointments were today....what a crazy schedule! Maddie's hearing test at 8am. Aiden's hearing test at 8:15am. Madelynn's ENT appointment at 8:30am and Aiden's at 8:45am! Suprisingly things went very well with this schedule. I was so afraid that one late appointment would lead to disaster for the whole thing! Now, for the results. Both kids passed the hearing test and both had ear drums that looked great! They do not need to be seen again unless there is a problem. HURRAY!!! I love going to appointments when they tell you good news. It's so much less stress for us.

In other news, I am officially no longer an employee of Prairie Elementary. I checked out today and turning in my keys. It's a little sad, but I'm excited about my new position at Michener. It's starting to sink in a bit, but I think that when one door closes, another one opens and it's up to me to determine if that new door will hold a negative or positive experience. I intend to give it my all and have a great experience there. I stopped by at Michener today and got to check out what will be my new room. It's set up quite a bit different than what I'm used to so it's a good thing that I'll be able to work on it during the summer which is something I've never been able to do. Also, the people I talked to while I was there today were so nice. They did what they could to help me out and were wonderful. It's nice to feel wanted!

That's all for now. I'm going to try and figure out how to post a video on the blog. I have a cute one of the kids dancing. Hopefully it'll be up soon.

Bits and Pieces....

Tonight's post just consists of small updates about anything and everything...

Last night we had a fairly bad, but pretty quick storm come through our way. It involved a tornado warning. I was really nervous about it because we haven't had any tornados since I've been an adult and on my own. It wasn't as scary when your mom was there to tell you what to do and when it was clear! :) Josh and I ultimately decided to wake up the kiddos and take them downstairs. They had been sound asleep for a hour so we didn't want to wake them if we didn't have to. We played in the basement for a little while and then as quick as it came, it was gone again. Back upstairs, diaper changes, refill cups, and kids back in bed. We expected screams....all we got was silence. They went right back to sleep! :) Of course the adrenaline was going so Josh and I were up for quite awhile after that. :(

I'm almost done with packing my classroom up. I have about three things left to grab and then I can check out and be done working at Prairie. While it is bitter sweet, I'm looking forward to a new start at Michener. However, I will miss certain people.....and you know who you are! Tomorrow will be my final day and then I get to be a stay at home mommy for the whole summer! Yahoo!!!!!

We have several upcoming events that I'll be posting in the next week. It's a busy one for us! Things to look forward to......hearing tests, ENT appointments, eye doctor apppointments, LISD playgroup, and dare I say it....POTTY TRAINING!!! I'm sure you'll all want to stay tuned in for the latest! :)

Oh, one more thing. For those of you who have been paying attention to the struggles we've been dealing with in regards to Malachi and the emotional roller coaster I've been on, you'll appreciate this. Malachi is consistantly saying a four word sentence! "I want another one!" He also says, "I want it!" THIS IS HUGE IN MY EYES!!!! I'm so proud. It's like he knows when mommy needs encouragement that he's going to be okay. It's crazy how our kids take care of us when we need it too, even if they are little ones...

Three Beautiful Flowers!

So, this weekend was pretty laid back and fun. I can sum it up with a three stories of three different flowers.

Flower #1: A Rose Between Lot's of Thorns...

My neice Elizabeth graduated from high school this past week. Yesterday was her open house. It turned out fabulous with tons of her family and friends there. Elizabeth is the first of any of my siblings' children to graduate. The ones older than her are all boys, so you could say she's the rose between the thorns of boys! :) We're all super proud of her! The picture is of Elizabeth with her aunts, mom, Grandma, and Grandpa. Congrats Liz, I'm so proud of you. Have fun working at Cedar Point this summer!

Flower #2: A Flower on a Flower...

My friend makes these great flower hair bows. Maddie loves them and we decided to share with Brooke yesterday just for fun. Brooke surprised us by keeping it on for quite awhile before ditching it. Isn't she cute??? FYI: If you want to purchase any of these flower hair bows, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you with more information.

Fl0wer #3: The First Rose on the Bush...

Josh and I were outside working in the garage and when we came up to the front porch I noticed I had a blooming rose on one of my rose bushes. It's the first one this year. I have two rose bushes that are planted next to each other. One normally has roses in shades of pink while the other usually has shades of yellow and orange or peach. I'm not sure what happened this year, but the picture below is the result. Maybe the roots have grown together making a pink and yellow rose? I'm not sure how it happened, but it's beautiful! I hope we get more this way.

6 days!!!!

Today was the last day of school (at least for the students). While I'll miss my class because I had an overall great one this year, I am counting down the days until I get to be a stay at home mom for the summer! I figure it will take my until Wednesday to get my room packed up and moved home to the garage. That's not too bad, right? Only 6 days!

Update on Services for Kids

So we had Malachi and Madelynn's meeings last night. Thanks Ken and Diane for watching the kids!!! Here is the latest....

Madelynn - There is no question that she qualifies, but it should be more short term than her brother. She will be going to the LISD play group twice a week for the last two weeks for June. Then in July she'll do the play group once a week. She is also being recommended for a more intense one-on-one session. We were told last night that she would get play group once a week and the other session once a week. I'm not really sure if she'll be getting the extra session during the two weeks in June because she's getting the play group twice. Hmmm.....I need to ask more questions on this. They also gave us a ring of picture cards to start working with her. The program is based on Nancy Coffman (I'm not really sure how to spell her name). She put certain sounds and types of words in a heirarchy. So, the ring of cards we have now are easier and as she gets them we'll move on to harder ones. We started them today and she's doing really well. I honestly don't think it will be long before we move on to the next set. She's so smart!

Malachi - Malachi will get speech and occupational therapy (ot) and he's on consult for physical therapy (pt). He'll be doing the same LISD play group twice a week in June and then it will drop to once a week for the remainder of the summer. They are recommending once a week, but I'm pushing for twice a week. I'm not satisfied with only once a week considering how far behind he is. I'll just keep pestering until they do what I want! Josh thinks I'm good at pestering so it shouldn't be too hard...right???? :) Malachi will NOT get an additional one-on-one session because he needs therapy that is play based at this point and the intensity of the other would easily frustrate him. He doesn't have the comprehension that Maddie has so it would be unfair to put him through that when he'd most likely not succeed at this point.

***Also, I was mislead about Malachi's sensory needs. It is NOT in his report! I never filled out any paper work regarding this! As of now, it is only suspected by one person in the group. They gave me the paper work to fill out and return to them. I will update more on this as I find it out. I will say that I am frustrated about this!!! He's being misdiagnosed....someone jumping ahead before he's evalated for it.***

We are scheduled to start on Monday, June 15th. We'll go Monday and Wednesday's for an hour and a half. Monday's will be just the therapy group and Wednesday's will include the Lenawee's Child play group (which was recommended for Aiden to challenge him more). We're killing two birds with one stone. :) While I'm still not sure on all the details, we do at least have a starting point and as we get into the routine, I'll be able to ask more questions and figure things out. I'll also be able to see how the kids react to the situation and determine if we're heading down the right path for their success.

Also, the best part is that all three kids get to go to each session. Even Aiden, who doesn't qualify for any services, gets to participate. The kids will be split up into different groups withing the play group which is good. This means that Aiden can't do all the speaking for the three of them. During Madelynn's individual session, me and the boys will be able to play in a near by room or in the same room away from her while she works. This is great because we don't need to spend extra money on finding a sitter for one or two kids several times a week. I'm thrilled with it!

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I still have questions and concerns, but I think things will get worked out once we start. I am confident that the kids will adjust quickly to the routine of being there. I also think they'll enjoy being with other kids in a new environment. I'll update more on their progress in a couple of weeks once we begin.

Lastly, I wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for us and this process. I can say that it is much easier to be in the teacher role than it is in the parent role. It's frustrating and heart breaking when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child, even when you did expect it already! It has taken me some time to deal with everything and come to terms with it, but I know that my little boy will always be my little boy. Regardless of what 'problems' he has and what therapy he has to endure, I will always love him and he'll always love his mommy. Thats what really counts!