Weekend Recap

On Friday afternoon Casen had his ST appointment.  They have such a fun waiting room with things to climb on and little touch screen tvs with games. Plus Disney movies playing which is my favorite part.  I got to watch a little bit of Beauty and the Beast which makes me want to stay in the waiting room instead of going to the appointment.

 

 

Afterwards we met Kyle at Olive Garden for dinner and Kyle said 'where's Cooper'.  You should have seen Casen.  He looked around for 2-3 minutes wondering where he was with his hands out and the biggest worried eyes.  It was too cute.

 

Casen did really good at dinner and it reminded us that one kid is so much easier than two.  Those serious eyes remind me of Cooper.

 

 

Cooper was busy making cookies with Babi.

 

 

And doing an experiment.

 

Mom- yesterday Cooper told me 'ice melts and turns to water'!

 

Saturday morning Casen let us sleep in and I ran to get us donuts.  Then Casen did an awesome job of playing by himself while we cleaned the house.

 

Cooper went on a ride with Grandaddy to check the cows and piggies.  He was anxious waiting at the door with his toy gun.  I think he spoiled Grandaddy with lots of attention this weekend.

We bought two quilts for our bed.

We decided on the red one.  We thought it looked better with the wood and the overall look of our house.

 

My mom brought Cooper home from his slumber party around 1 and then Kyle's family came to visit.  His parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, Uncle Tyler, Katie, and Ron's parents all came to see the house.  We had such a fun time visiting and had a great dinner.  I am so disappointed that I didn't stop to take pictures.  Cooper was the official tour guide and it was adorable.  He made sure to show them the three potties, toilet paper, outlets that can shock you and make you bleed, the hot water and cold water in the tub, and lots more.  He had us laughing so hard.

That night before bed I decided to start my next book for my NY resolutions and I love it. This one is a story of conversion and it is so much easier to read since it progresses.

Sunday Casen and I joined Melisa and her girls for church and then headed to Ennis.  Cooper stayed behind with Kyle to help change the oil and some other 'man work.' The minute Kyle mentioned the attic Cooper was set on staying with daddy.  They joined us later in Ennis for a yummy lunch where my grandfather joined us.  I was glad to see him and he get to visit with the kids.

Our job for the day was to clean our my parents storage unit in their barn of our stuff from childhood.  It was interesting because it rained all day, but we had a great time.  I loved reminiscing over all of our toys. I must say it was a little hard because all of the toys are for girls and I am not sure if you realized this but I don't have any girls.  I wanted to hold on to stuff but I really don't know if Kyle and I will have another child.  And even if we do I don't know if we will have a girl.  I hate to hold onto stuff because of the 'what ifs' but I also know I will be sad if we do have a girl someday and I gave this stuff away.  So I kept a few things and the rest I tried to convince my sisters to take. My little niece wanted everything and I loved it. Too bad she didn't really take it all.

Here are some of my favorite toys-

These triplets had a carrier and everything.  Man I loved these dolls!

Anyone remember Puppy Surprise?

I convinced the littles to get in the Popples sleeping bag.

And of course my old gymnastic leotard, warm-ups, grips, ribbons, and medals.  I posted this picture on Facebook and tagged all of my gymnastic coaches and friends.  I still have two bins at home to go through but I did a good job downsizing.

I also got the order of the Easter shirts and narrowed it down to one of these plaid with the yellow shirt in the middle.  However I have no clue why this shirt looks like a highlighter because in person it is a pale yellow.

 

We had such a great weekend full of family time. 

Update on Casen

Casen's first speech therapy session was on February 13th.  I mentioned in this post that I was both excited and nervous. I was worried I would leave feeling discouraged and guess what... I did.

I called my mom afterwards feeling discouraged and overwhelmed. I want to share with you what they did both to document it for our family but also in case someone I know goes through this at some point.

We sat in a little room just like last time with just us and the therapist.  A parent or other adult is required to attend each session and participate as needed.  The therapist, Lori started with a toy like this. The should make his lid open and repeat 'POP' each time.  Then she would close them and say 'bye-bye'. 

from Walmart

 

Then we played with blocks and balls where she repeated their names a lot and just handed them back and forth. And finally we played with a magnadoodle saying 'dot, dot, dot' and they made circles.

 

If you notice she concentrated on the consonant sounds 'B' and 'D' to see if he would repeat.  He didn't repeat any of the sounds.  She observed that he doesn't babble or make sounds while he plays.  He also has his mouth open with tongue at the front and drools a lot as a he plays (we knew this and discussed it at our assessment).

 

She explained that 'our homework' was to 'wake up' him mouth.  She showed us how to associate an action with a consonant sound. An example is 'mmmm' while rubbing your pointer finger across your lips. Another one was patting your mouth like an indian while saying the B sound. We were also instructed to do two different mouth exercises, make funny faces in the mirror, encourage babbling with repetition and some other things. We also have to encourage him to close his mouth or 'hide your tongue.'

 

One of the last things she said to me was 'the most important thing is homework.  I only get 30 minutes a week with him and it will consist mainly play observation and showing you knew things to do with him.'  That is when it hit me with no denying it.  This was something I was going to have to do. It wasn't just 30 minute sessions of magic.  We really did have homework and this really is a commitment to help him. In the moment I was selfish and thought 'oh great! Just one more thing to add to my never-ending list.' But after talking to my mom she reminded me that less than 6 months ago we thought we were facing something much scarier and harder. Things could be some much worse.  This is temporary.

 

I think something else that scared me is she made a reference to doing something else when he is older.  In my head this was going to last 6 months not years. But I have to remind myself that even if it is years it will be worth it.  I will do anything for this amazing little boy. Because that's my job.

 

The next week we didn't have an appointment because she was out for a conference.  Then last week the bad weather caused them to cancel our appointment.  So this afternoon is only our second appointment. This time my attitude is completely different.  I am so excited to go to the appointment and show her our improvements.

 

Over the last 3 weeks I have seen so many changes in Casen.  He still drools and we aren't great about reminding him but I have noticed him close his mouth more and something wipe his mouth so he is aware of the drool.  He babbles the B, D, and M sound.  He says momma more (still not a ton) and he says what sounds like more and mine (maybe not a good thing). Yesterday he said 'dadda' multiple times.  Sometimes it is just the first D as he points to Kyle or Kyle's picture but he knows what he is saying.  Yesterday we made popcorn and he keeps saying 'pa, pa, pa' like he was making the popping sound. I have heard him make a rumbling sound as he plays with cars and trucks. 

 

We have a long way to go, but I feel like God heard my needs.  He knew I needed the reassurance that we are doing our best for Casen.  I know I just need to trust God and have patience which is often easier said than done.  I can't wait to get my next homework assignment today...but I still hope it is easy : )

Real Snow Day!

Thursday we woke up to a Winter Wonderland.

 

This time it was real soft snow with little or no ice so we had to enjoy it.

 

 

I just love this picture of Casen!

 

The snow was too fluffy to make a snowman but Cooper had fun gathering it up and throwing it or moving it around. We also played snow soccer and had a little snowball fight.

 

At one point we got into a snow drift when chasing the ball and had snow up to my knees.

 

Afterwards we got warm with hot chocolate and then I found the boys reading in Cooper's room.  Cooper kept calling it his library.

 

Last night Casen found a ruler and a toy mallet and decided to 'hang some things on the wall'. 

 

Kyle had done something similar the week before with a level and hammer. And you can see he was right there on the ladder and watching Daddy very closely.

 

 

This morning when I got to work there was a huge pile of snow in my spot but luckily there was a guy on some machine (Cooper would know the name of it) to push it out of the way.
 

Weekend Recap

Our weekend started early thanks to some snow. This is the view of a parking garage at 9 am.

 

By 11 our day-care decided to close at 12 due to the weather.  I left at 11:15 to try to get to them but with the slick roads it took me 2 hours to get home instead of 40 minutes.

 

This was the traffic map

 

Luckily my sister was able to pick up my boys when she got her girls. We hung out at her house until mid-afternoon when Kyle made it home.

 

 

After this little ones took a nap we headed outside to play in the snow. I didn't have heavy coats, hats, or gloves for my boys so they got to sport some of their cousins clothes.  That is casen in the gray and purple fleece and cat hat!

 

The snow was so fluffy it wouldn't stick to make a snowman so we gave Barbie a snow dress.


Mac made a snow angel

 

And did a great job!

 

When it was time to go Cooper didn't want to leave and Aunt Lusa invited them to spend the night.  We had their bags in the car because they were supposed to stay with Babi (Cooper) and Aunt Lusa (Casen) that night before the snow changed our plans.

 

So I let crazy Aunt Lusa have my boys and I picked up some pasta and a redbox movie as I headed home.  Kyle and I watched Maze Runner and thought it was pretty good.  Kyle really liked it and is looking forward to the next one.  The alien/insects were weird, but overall I liked the movie.

 

 

Rub a dub dub, four kids in a tub.

Saturday Kyle and I decided to take his truck and not let the weather stop us from our plans. We headed to the mall and I found this cute top at JcPenney.  I also found another top and loved it so much I got Aunt Lusa a matching one as a thank you gift.

While shopping we came across this gem and I joked that it would coordinate perfectly with the boys Easter outfits.

Then I picked this one out for my BIL Trent.

 

All the while the kiddos played doctor and had fun.

 

 

That evening Melisa, my parents, and I attended our church casino night fundraiser.  We have been to several different casino nights over the years but this is the first one at our new church.

My mom and I at the craps table.  I still have a lot to learn but I enjoyed playing.

All 4 of us were at the table so we shot a quick selfie.  Dad wasn't mad he was just ducking down to make it in 'the short people shot'. He had the cutest dates there : )

Sunday morning we went to church as a family before heading to hangout with Kyle's parents.  The boys were pretty good in church and the man next to us was so sweet with Casen.  He even held him for a little bit.  And of course the Tobola girls were there and they came to sit with us after Communion.

This ad was in our church bulletin and I am really hoping we make it.  I LOVE pickles and Cooper does too (not really sure about Casen). Plus my favorite brand of pickles Best Maid is from Mansfield so I am sure they are the ones hosting it.

We had a lot of fun playing at Mimi and Grandpa's but I didn't take a single picture.  Since the weather was crummy and the boys were playing with toys we even had time to play Joker (card/marble game).

Afterwards we headed to our favorite furniture/décor store to take some pictures. I am still deciding on the wall décor in my dining room.  The one on the right is tan with a dark border. Love it but it matches the color scheme of dark wood and tan walls in the house.  I was hoping to add a pop of color.

I thought I wanted turquoise but when I saw this I wasn't sure if I could handle it.

Then we ran to the mall to return Kyle's new shoes for a bigger size.  The boys did really well.

Sunday night Cooper wanted to show me his new trick.  It was supposed to be standing on one leg, but I don't think it counts when you hold on to something.  Plus that is a pirate sword between his legs! Ha!

Monday I bought some hair stuff and practiced Casen's fauxhawk. How can you not love this cheesy face!

 

Despite the weather we had a great weekend. A special thanks to Aunt Lusa!!