Jelly Stone!

We took a family trip to Yellowstone and phew! Vacations are hard work! lots and lots of preparation and STUFF! Lots of stuff. I was in a cabin with Jill and her kids and Michael, Megan and Owen. After our last cabin experience, we bannished Dylan and Matthew to their own little two person cabin. That was better accommodations than last time when they were in the car all night right?

It actually ended up with Ian in with Matthew because the first night he pitched a fit when it was time to go in the pack and play... Yet, in bed, Matthew said it was time to go to bed and Ian just rolled over and snuggled in to sleep.

The cabins were adorable and so clean and nice. They even had towels and little soaps. It was definitely somewhere we would potentially stay again for a Yellowstone trip! Kristen and Gary were next door and LouAnn, Melissa, Eden and Suzie were across the street. So close! LouAnn's cabin had a fire pit (not all of them did) so the boys were set and entertained. Not to mention that straight behind Kristen's cabin was a huge play ground for all the kids!

Duncan was in with me and Asher went to bed in the pack and play even though I pulled him in bed with me at the start of day light. Having spend several nights with Duncan I have decided that all four years olds have RLS, restless leg syndrome. There is nothing like sharing a bed with a four year old. I finally had to say, "STOP MOVING". Maybe a few times, and after he really did, he fell right asleep. I could always tell rght when he went to sleep!

Going in to the park there is a traffic jam, every day. Conveniently it is where a bunch of Buffalo tend to hang out. I said "drive people, sheesh! You act like you have never seen a buffalo before!" After about 10 minutes I said to Matthew, "I guess maybe they haven't seen a buffalo before have they?" and he told me he was just going to let that comment slide. I guess when you see buffalo all the time, seeing them isn't that big of a deal? Have I been spoiled?

There was a huge mess coming in another day and I looked to see what the fuss was, it was two moose. Really? Moose? Causing a traffic jam bad enough for the ranger to come manage traffic? Have you not seen a moose either people?

I am not all blasé about the animals, we did come up on two black bears right by the side of the road one day. The rangers were it to keep things moving since the bears were RIGHT there and there wasn't a pull over location. This Is the first time we saw black bears there. When we went on the motorcycle ride to Yellowstone we saw a brown one pretty far away. Alas, the boys couldn't see them because they were close enough in the drop off on the side of the road they couldn't see. I told Duncan I would show him a
picture. Not that he cares that much about animals, but I will still show him a picture.

We also saw a few elk (not worth a traffic jam) and the herd of antelope (or are those elk too?) that hang out in Mammoth, a coyote staring down a hole, and lot and lots (and LOTS) of mosquitos.

Duncan got a few bites on his noggin, always the forehead with my kids! The morning after his bug bite was bad on his forehead he woke up and couldn't open his eye. He said "mom, my eye keeps sticking like this." and points to his closed eye. I told him I would take a picture of it and show him what it looked like and I did, mainly because I wanted a picture, but you know... And he said "my eye looks pretty funny." which doesn't read as adorable as it sounded. I send him in to Michael and Megan's room and told him to tell them it was time to ring the bell. He was dubbed "Quasimodo" the rest of the day.

It didn't seem to bother him that he couldn't see out of the one eye. He told Jill "I can see you if I do this, or this" holding his eye open with one finger. Sweet boy. How nutty would it drive you to have to only see out of one eye?? What a good sport.

The next day it was a puffy other eye! But it wasn't completely closed so that's good. Poor kid.

We told Duncan one day we wanted to find a place where he could get out and run and he said "uhm, maybe not run, my legs are heavy" this is most likely because of the Benadryl that we gave him for his bug bites. It knocked him out. Over and over. Heavy legs, yes exactly, we all know how that feels.

On Thursday the big boys went on a float down the river and LouAnn, Elijah, Dylan, Asher and I went to see the bears and wolves at the rescue. We got very close up to the bears, it was really neat. They only have a couple of bears out for a limited times throughout the day, not sure why, but it makes for a fun experience watching them run, play and explore the area like they hadn't seen it in a while! Very different from a zoo where they just sleep in the same spot when it's hot outside.

During one of the rides my very mechanically inclined boy asked, out of nowhere "Dad? ... Are there gears in my head?" This is a perfectly logical question to a four year old who understands that gears make things work!
The drive home was long, long long, we drove back through Jackson and didn't get on the road until later than people expected (we didn't know the plan, and why wake sleeping kids?). We didn't get home until after 11:30 and the kids were running around the house like mad. It was crazy! They were happy to be home!

Somehow we seemed to change our kids in for other ones while there because we had kids that got up at 6 and 6:30 and now we have ones that get up at 8:30 and 9! Who are these kids?? Best kids ever! Let's see how long this lasts!

I have a few pictures of these two each pointing different directions as to where to look for the camera. This is them agreeing to disagree I guess!

Looks like he is posing doesn't it? He is really in motion though! Kid doesn't stop! There were several potguts, chip munks and other creatures hanging out at this picnic site. At one point a chipmunk even crawled across the toe of my shoe!

Asher clearly thinks Owen and his glasses stealing is hilarious. Owen is enjoying the audience too! 

Drool and all, cute picture of cousin Eden!

I wanted to get a picture of my little Quasi!

So he started making faces! 

It was unexpected and pretty darn cute!

If we can't put baby in the corner... can we put him in the trunk?

Happily passing time, NOT in the car!

Dylie and a cool pot. Obviously she is enjoying the scenery. I think on this day she slept all day, in and out of the car a few times! I also have a picture of her taking in Old Faithful in the same way.

At Yellowstone Falls. See, she didn't sleep the WHOLE time. Just almost...

Quasi getting some snuggles from Uncle Gary by the Falls. Looks fake doesn't it?

Asher, Grandma and a gyser.

This cute little gal was at the grizzly and wolf rescue at West Yellowstone. She was just sitting there, like this, for a long time. She would look around though and she stared us down a bit. LouAnn remarked that she didn't look very majestic just sitting there like that. That's when we read her sign. She has neurological damage from a fall or from poisening, so we decided she was our Dylie bald eagle and she was as regal as Dylan is!

It's always a good day

When I can use my "Better full than empty, that's what I always say!" line! Oh wait... that's every time I leave the house (no joke). It's my standard response to "Boy, looks like you have your hands full!"

Friday we went to the little tiny splash pad by my house again and it was WINDY. Like, really windy, but it was hot too so it wasn't so bad for a little half hour or so. Dylan did remarkably well in the sun and wind. She was very awake and happy in the stroller playing, blowing zerbits on the stroller tray and watching. WOW. I mean WOW too, because my girl hates the sun and the wind. This give me hope for more summer activities. If it were a little less windy I would have even taken her for a little walk - Buckled Asher in with some treats since he is now moble and thinks he need to walk all over (usually not the water...).

We weren't done with the fun so we came home and got out the little plastic pool (this time I had my camera) and Asher tried it out but didn't last very long and I got him taken care of while the big boys continued. Until Ian decided to dump dirt in the pool. Wahoo. Well, it was time for lunch anyway I suppose!

We got the play set all put up and it's AMAZING. To think all of it came in five small (very deceiving) boxes! In response to Duncan's question about how much he loves Michael, Michael responded "Do you know how much I love you? Five boxes of wood and a Saturday!" All day, and it got to 100 degrees. Papa, Uncle Michael and dad were showing the love for the kids, that's for sure!

Ian has become a sort of parlor trick in the last week or two. Matthew took him to get ice one morning and he looked at the cooler and went "E C I" with the letters. The boy loves his letters, we knew this, and we knew he was getting good, but he is AMAZING. I was wearing sweats and he said NYC. It's really funny, and super cute with his little speech. I wanted to get it on video so I pulled out some flash cards and he only got confused on three letters, Z which he thinks is S, T which he gets mixed up with I, and K which he thinks is X.  Oh, and the number three is often an E.

My baby fell asleep like this one night... He was really stuck too! Maybe he should have let us know?

Pool shot!

Three boys

And while Ian was having fun swimming of course my little mechanical boy was off trying to figure out how to raise the umbrella!

Before

During (Duncan got to go out a little but he is inquisitive and there are small parts. I am not sure Foreman Michael would have let him live if he were out the whole time...)

This is not excitment

An accident waiting to happen. Though I have said it will be more of a controlled fall since it is on a little bit of an angle.

Cute

Five little boxes

My little boy had an Oreo knock off! I think it would have been worse if it were an Oreo since they seem to be a bit more water soluble!

What I say to new special needs moms

Recently I got an email from someone I had reached out to when her son was born with a rare 7q deletion like Dylan. I hadn't traded emails with her in a long time and I noticed, attached to the new email, was a trail of old emails that we had sent eachother.

Normally, when I reach out to a new mom I just tell them what I am inpired to tell them. It's certainly no form letter and who knows what I have said and shared along the way. I tend to run on and on, which I really had in this instance too, but reading over what I had written to this woman origionally I felt like it also needed to be shared on the blog. Preserved for those who randomly find my blog but that I don't have the pleasure of trading emails with or reaching out to.

What I tell new moms:

I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my daughter Dylan and invite you to visit my blog www.cutelittlemonkeys.blogspot.com. Dylan had no prenatal diagnosis but she was IUGR so we knew something was going on, turns out a LOT. She was born at almost 31 weeks and her birth set our family into a bit of a tail spin.

Information after information we found out Dylan has a mega deletion of chromosome 7q and as a result she has spine issues and her brain is malformed. Her prognosis was quite bleak. You know, those doctor only tell you what's in their text books, which often works to the families detriment! We were told that she would probably never move or respond or interact with us. Well, she's done nothing but prove doctors wrong from day one.

She was transferred to PCMC when she was a a month and half old to have surgery. She was in the NICU 89 days. Since that first surgery she's had a few more but nothing she can't handle. These babies are so tough! So so much tougher than their parents!

In June of 2008 we got a Mic-key button (g-tube) after toughing it out with an OG tube for far too long (though, I will tell you, it didn't seem like too long until after we got her button). It's another sugery, but it really has been great for her.

Today Dylan is a happy, almost three year old. She's one of the very few with her diagnosis who will walk (oh yes... she will...) and she is adored by everyone who meets her. And those doctors thought they knew it all...

I know it's tough right now as you are learning how you and our family will cope with your son and the future. But you can do it. I know the grief that you feel. I think about how I felt when I first learned about Dylan and I am flooded with emotion. Right now your job is to fall in love with that baby and not worry about the future, if you do that your family will be blessed with the strength and knowledge to carry on and he will thrive! I can't wait to keep reading about him and how he will also prove the doctors wrong.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to talk. I have been there, we are still there!
Hang in there mama!

This mother responded and (kindly) allowed me another chance to ramble on...

Hmmm, have I always been this way? I would like to think for the most part I have. When we first heard the word, the dreaded 'word' for what she might have we went to the Internet and my husband and I had a breakdown. We thought it was the end of the world. There is some truth to that you go through the stages of grief when you find out your child is special needs. You grieve, you mourn the 'normal' child that you were dreaming of, that you were supposed to have. I reached acceptance very quickly, the 'we can totally do this!', quicker than my husband (though I do believe he bonded with her and 'fell in love' more quickly than I did).

Once you get to that point, the world is your oyster, nothing isn't possible. And the impossible doesn't matter any more.

I know parents who, after a year, haven't yet reached the acceptance point. I know mom's who constantly are pre-occupied with how much time they will have with their child, and how their child isn't measuring up. I don't know what's normal, it probably all is!

I love that you are starting to realize what you're calling your 'new normal' is, that's a great way to look at it. Dylan's Pediatrician asked us early on if we have given up and thrown up our hands and I promptly said "Yes!" He then told me that the parents who realize that they are not the ones in control are the most well adjusted and happiest parents. Once you realize that this is the way things will be and you should make the best of it you really can take anything thrown at you!

I promise you can do this, you can... you will amaze everyone. People will ask you how you do it, how you made it through the NICU. I won't tell them that you and I know we are just normal parents doing what has to be done because we fell in love.

You will also meet the most AMAZING parents of kids with special needs, it's a wonderful 'family', very inspiring.

Not allowed to get sick

Mama was siiiick this week. It was fast and furious though with only one really REALLY bad day which was Tuesday. Monday I could kind of tell that I was getting a little sick. I got progressively sniffly during the day and took some Benadryl at night but I woke up Tuesday at about 4 am MISERABLE. So so sick. I was sick all day long and short with the kids (sorry boys...). My right temple was throbbing and every time I moved it felt like someone was stabbing me. I took more meds Tuesday night but I am limited to Tylenol for headaches at this point and my head hurt so bad that I couldn't even sleep with Tylenol PM. I was at my wits end when I got up for the day, ready to call the doctor to get something to get rid of my headache! Then I had an idea... caffeine, I hadn't had any in a few days and I know that it helps with headaches sometimes! I had a Mountain Dew for breakfast. And what do you know, it worked. I wish I had thought of it about 24 hours prior! By Wednesday afternoon I was feeling way better and now I just have some sniffles. WOW. I hope the kids don't get it. It was one of those colds that I would seriously worry about Asher if he got it!

Being sick forced me to miss my Council meeting with the hospital and I was bummed. One Monday I knew I wouldn't be going in because the last place I need to bring the sniffles is the Children's Hospital! I was planning to still have Melissa and the girls come over while I hid in the basement and listened in via conference call but when I woke up miserable on Tuesday I didn't feel right about being the cause of the entire family getting sick! I wouldn't want her girls to get it! So I cancelled altogether. Bummmmer. One of my few chances to be an adult! We will plan on not getting sick next month!

Because I haven't been feeling well we haven't really done much this week. We have just hung around at home getting all up in eachother's grill. It's not so bad. The boys are progressively starting to play better with eachother.

One Wednesday everyone was asleep for a nap and Asher was the first to wake, not long after everyone else went to bed. I wondered if maybe he would snuggle up with me and watch a show so I put on Toy Story and sure enough he did. He is a snuggly boy and mommy was in her happy place. We layed together and he watched the show while I took a moment to appreciate the oportunity that I have to be at home with my kids during the day. We are rarely rushed and I know that I can stop and smell the roses any time I want. Not every mom has a chance to just STOP and snuggle. I am so so blessed.

After a while he moved on but he still did not want to get off the couch. He would go over and play for a minute and then come back and lean against me and watch for a minute. Then he would wander to the other side of the couch, then come back and lay his head on my lap. It was so cute. House cleaning and chores could wait!

Asher is going to be shocked when we finally go swimming and he realizes that not all towels are warm. I nearly always warm the kids towels in the dryer for when they get out of the tub. When I walk in with a towel, no matter how much fun he has had in the tub he gets so excited to see me and that towel! (To be fair, usually his water is luke warm at best by then anyway.) It will probably be a while before he goes swimming though so we might be safe!

This weekend is the farewell for my Nephew Sam who is going on a LDS mission to Peru! Peru! He has already been trying to study up on his Spanish (his dad also went to a Spanish speaking mission) so the transition will be a little easier to near full time Spanish speaking! I am so proud of him! He is just such a sweet guy, very talented and very genuine. He is a great example for all the boys in our family. It will be interesting for us to have a full time missionary in the family! This will be one crowded day in their church, hopefully someone will save us good seats because you know we are never on time!

The play set was delivered on Tuesday it came as a big slide and five big boxes. The boys have no idea what it is really since it's not put together but they did have some fun watching the delivery guy get it off the truck as we ooh-ed and ahh-ed from the porch. At one point I thought the whole thing was going to fall off the truck and we went inside for a few minutes! When we came back it was safely on the bottom of the truck though. I didn't think the pallet was going to make it because it was kind of falling to pieces with how he had to maneuver it!

When he lifted the slide out Ian yelled "sliiide!" and pointed and Duncan prayed that night that we would be blessed with a slide that came out of our window. So they are excited, but they don't really know what they are excited for. Matthew and Papa Bob are ready to build it though! Whenever that may be...

Matt has had a very busy week at work and has had a couple of late nights this week. Hard for mom, especially a sick mom, but we are hanging in just fine. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't totally spoil us when he is around. I usually get to relax and lay around when he gets home from work but he has been getting home when everyone's in bed!

My little Ian loves his letters and colors. He often points at things quizzing you what color it is. He will go right down the row and then back again. He is also really quite good at letters when he sees them. It's really funny to watch him watch kid shows where they ask what letters there are because he actually  knows and will say them with the TV.

One more thing... When people find out that I am pregnant again they are in shock! They always say "Wow, five young kids and one with special needs!" A lot of people say this... so I feel I need to say... Dylan is our easiest child! Now that we don't have appointments as frequently, she is pretty healthy and we haven't had much surprises she is a piece of cake! Most of the time she is just happy being here and watching her brothers in action. She doesn't talk back, she doesn't care what she wears and is even pretty quiet (albiet drooly) when she is starving! Really. Aside from the logistics of going places, she makes things even easier around here.

I wasn't so hot at taking pictures this week either, I was down for the count.

Ian finished off the box of donuts when we weren't looking.

He thinks he is SO funny! Okay, maybe he is a little...

My view when I was appreciating my life.

Went to mom's for dinner and Dylan crashed before the pizza got there. Matthew offered to move her but everyone realized that she was probably pretty comfy where she was at and they just stepped over and around. (These are her favorite toys, there are 5 of them. I am contemplating dropping the dough to get a spare five...)

Meds Schmeds

I called the Neuro to get the new prescription I had been watching for in the mail. I think Paula was planning on talking to the doctor before she sent it off and then it just skipped her mind because when I called she remembered what we had talked about and had indeed talked to the doctor. We had recently gone to three capsules of Zonegran the morning and three in the evening, we have a script written for 2.5 and three so we weren't in danger of running out, it was just something on the list.

I told Paula that Dylan hasn't had spasms since about a week or two after we bumped her up, so that is the magic amount for now. She said "I spoke with Dr. Thompson again and we reviewed Dylan's EEG and we are surprised she is doing so well!" After a good pause I said "At all? Or just right now?" I wasn't sure what she meant!! She started laughing and said "So well on Zonegran! I am not surprised she is doing so well in general!" It was pretty funny.

They are surprised that the spasms haven't already developed into drop seizures because that would be a very typical progression from Infantile Spasms. BOO! It's good that it hasn't happened yet though for sure as I specifically inquired whether that was around puberty (which is a VERY scary time for children with seizures as they tend to develop all sorts of complications then) or earlier and she said definitely earlier, usually by now. But, of course, Dylan didn't have your typical infantile spasms either! So you never know. I commented that it's just a big guessing game!

I told her the spasms don't bother me if they don't effect Dylan which, of they are mild, they don't seem to. Apparently there isn't actual damage being done when she has them so that's good. They just become a problem when they are stronger and they wipe her out. When we start seeing them they are very mild and hard to pick up on, but they tend to get stronger until we change the med.

So we have a plan in place for when the spasms become a challenge again. She is at the maximum amount of Zonegran that they would want to give her at her size so we will switch to a medication called Depokote. She said the problem with Depokote is that you risk other complications (liver and white blood cel count I think?) and we will have to do regular labs to watch things. Boo to regular labs but it has helped that she is an easier poke than she has been. Shoot, last time we went to Endo we did a draw right in the office for the first time ever.

Paula told me to watch for drop seizures, where Dylan would fall forward, and to let her know of the spasms become a problem again. Again, drop seizures, boo.

Meanwhile, I think we are within 10 days of no more POKES! We are just waiting for her meds to run out. Yay!

Asher walks. Like full on walks across the room, changes directions, walks. It was all over the course of three days from the first unassisted steps to full on wobbly walking. I even took him to the splash pad with the boys and had him doing the walking around into the water. He was pretty cute he would touch the fountain and then scream in torture when he was splashed. Over and over again. He finally decided the fountains were fun until the big spray sprinkler came on and then he would scream and couldn't get away fast enough.

Duncan is really big on telling us how much he loves us. "Mom, do you know how much I love you?" and when we say "how much?" he said "Eighty sixty onedy fivedy." and we say " wow! that is a lot!

If you ask him how many brothers and sisters he wants he says "eighty onedy six" Specifically, eighty one boys and sixty one girls. He gets very excited at the thought of all of those brothers and sisters! That might be a few too many kids though, even for us!

And, just in case you are wondering, no we haven't moved Duncan's room yet. Haha!

Matthew did order a play set for the back yard though. A big old honking play set. No messing around, this thing is huge. Jessica bought one for Tildy's second birthday and I knew that she probably spent quite a bit of time researching options. So basically the hard work was done. Yea, I totally did that, I totally cheated. It took Matthew a little while to wrap his brain around where it was going and how we were going to do it but he did it, it was ordered and we will be seeing it in a week or so. Then is the fun of putting it together!

Jessica and Steve wired Tildy's to put a light in the house (cute) and I told Matthew we should rig ours with a mister. It's already pretty hot outside, maybe? So funny. The boys are really good about playing on the little metal swing set we picked up from somewhere so I am sure they will have a ton of fun on a the real deal.

Ian has kind of turned into a little terrible two year old in the last week or so. Throwing his body around in big fat fits. Running from you, even hiding. He's gotten kind of naughty with his little independence! He must do things himself, I put his milk in the shelf and he threw a fit, went to the fridge, took out his milk, then put it right back in same spot! Gannon said he put him on the trampoline at Ami's and he climbed down the ladder to climb back up again and do it himself! Yikes!

Mama got a new stroller. Matthew didn't think all four kids would fit on it and I knew they would! When I set him the picture he called it the clown car of strollers! Pretty sure we exceed the weight limits though.
At some point Duncan will walk right?

The stroller was the second time we went to the splash pad this week, this is the first.
I was a bit unprepared.

I didn't know that we were going to get wet but we rolled with the punches.

Super fun. And no pictures of the second time because I was walking around getting soaked with Asher. 

Asher crawled through this diaper box several times. Kept him busy for a while!

Big box fun

I got this BMI chart the last time we went to Dr. Endo and kept forgetting to take a picture. I was cleanign out my paper basket getting rid of things so I made it happen.
I think it is so funny because her BMI is all over the place!

Uncle Kiko watching a show with the littles before bed time.

This is the very first picture Duncan has drawn EVER. Normally he just scribbles. I was in shock.
Look how great this train is!! WOW!

Dream Night at the Zoo!

Last Friday night we went to the zoo for Dream Night at the Zoo which is a night at the zoo for special needs children. We got tickets through the children's hospital. Apparently the zoo had a record number of visitors that day because it was the grand opening of a TON of new (very cool) exhibits so I was very grateful to know that Dream Night at the Zoo was after hours!

Even though there were fewer people at the zoo I bet there were at least 4 times as many wheeled vehicles, the place quickly filled with strollers, wagons and wheelchairs. People were laughing that a lot of the families were pushing two things, we had the double stroller and a wagon ourselves. We felt right at home passing people who's main topic of conversation involved therapies!

It was not nearly as crowded as a regular old day at the zoo and many of the animals were up and about due to it cooling down after a hot day. The new polar bear was walking around his new home and the tigers were even moving around. One even went for a swim and the kids could watch through the glass. Very cool!

As we were walking around a building there was a big bird cage and I thought I heard the bird say hello... I was like 'no way!' so I stopped and we started talking to it. At one point a little girl walked up and said "Hiiiiiiii!!" and it said "Hiiiiiii!!" right back at her! It said 'hello', 'pretty bird'', "hi" and laughed really silly on cue. In fact, when it made us laugh out loud the silly bird would start laughing right back at us! It was really funny! Of course, the whole time we were chatting at it my obsessed son kept saying "Train! Say traaaaaiiiin. Train!!" I tried to explain that it probably didn't know how to say and  train... enough boys come by and it will learn that word soon enough I suppose.

Ian had a blast! He loves animals! Well, he loves just about everything but especially animals. Duncan just wanted to move along the entire time which I have to admit was a little annoying, especially because Ian could look at the animals all night. We closed the night down, staying until 9. I couldn't believe it was that late since our usual bed time is 8.

On Sunday we went to the family cabin for the first time this summer and it was HOT up there! I was surprised, normally it's quite a bit cooler at the start, but it was unseasonably warm in the valley so that explains it. Barely a sweatshirt needed. I didn't notice too many bugs but I was inside with Dylan and Asher most of the time. Ian got a bug bite right on the crown f his head but that was it.

This week we went for therapy at the park again which means we were really on top of things. Usually we are a few weeks in between therapy because of sickness, weather, scheduling and what not but not this time. Dylan did a great job climbing the cement pyramid of steps. Really great. And Mike also had her do a good run of stairs up to the big slide. He said when she got an attitude he would just allow her to use the side she was stronger on and she would stop complaining. She loved going down the big turny slide with Mike and was smiling big. She is finally thinking slides are fun without having to warm up to the idea and that's kind of fun.

Even though we started at 9:00 in the morning it got pretty warm there towards the end of the session. I was ready for a cold beverage and a good sit in a nice air conditioned room! And it was only 10! The boys like it though because whenever we go to the park we sit ad drink a Capri Sun in the car before we leave.

We are at a point where we are deciding whether or not we will continue on with therapy. We love Mike but the sessions are so expensive and insurance doesn't help us because he is out of network and we have a ridiculous out of network copay to meet. That along with it being so HOT outside means we can wait a little while to see anyway. To be determined...

Dylan has been getting quite tangled in her food tube lately and it's driving me bonkers. I literally have to free her from her ankle bindings at least two times each 1/2 hour feed! She will either get it wrapped completely around one ankle (like 8 times) or she will impressively attempt to hog tie herself and get both ankles. It then pulls the tube tight and stops the pump because it thinks it's out of food. Every time I unwrap her I try to appreciate the fact that she is mobile enough to hog tie herself because many of her tubie friends are not. Trying to be thankful here! To bad she hates the backpack so badly or I would make her wear it.

The other day Duncan said "watch mom!" when I was downstairs. He climbed up the little plastic slide we have downstairs and he stands at the top, facing the stairs, and proceeds to do a front flip onto the big cuddle bag we have... a FLIP! What the...? Heart attack now? Or wait because it's just going to get worse when he moves to the trampoline to do it? Yikes.

We never did move Duncan's room downstairs... there is a little bit of procrastinating going on. We shall see.

Riding the train at the zoo, is it just me or did this ride seem SO much longer when you were a kid? Notice the lack of crowd! Woohoo.

My boys petting a great big snake!

Dylie was just along for the ride, thanks for the tickets pickle!

My new besty, the talking cockatoo!

This giraffe was SO close! It looked Duncan in the eye when it lifted it's head to look around.

"Go hop up on that rock and smile" totally works!

Showing a little love to Aunt Ami

When one puts an arm around the other, choke fest, but both doing an arm is perfect!

Please don't just me by the status of her nose. They just walked up and I had to capture the moment... 

Asher was in the stroller for therapy and he was VERY patient!

Ian made it all the way up and squealed at me when he thought I was going to help him!

Dylan's cloud she made with puffy paint at school. It has her fingerprints all over it... so to speak. 

PT at the park

My sweet husband has been off all week long! He took a few days off after Memorial Day to get a few to-do things crossed off his list. He had quite the list!!

One of the things he still needs to do it fix Duncan's flat tire. We all went for a walk the other night and we were quite the crew. Duncan was on his bike, Matthew was pulling the wagon with a very stylin' Asher and a sleeping Dylan and I was pushing Ian in the push car. Ian was steering in continuous left circles, so... not ready for driving quite yet. Needless to say, Duncan was only on his training wheels due to a flat tire. Otherwise, he did great on his bike and the kids loved it.

While Matthew was off from work I got to cash in my Mother's Day present and I went for a prenatal massage. It was AMAZING! See, with a little practice I can get good at this massage stuff! She was wonderful and when it was over I could hardly even walk! I was out of it. So funny. It is SO expensive! And when you get home it's back to the grind... but, I think I may just have to get one at least once a month... Matthew created this monster, he wanted to make it easier to get me gifts, he didn't know he would have to get me them in between gifts too!

Hopefully this weekend we will finally get Duncan and Ian's room moved downstairs. Matthew has been fighting this because they are little but Duncan seems excited and we need the room! We will move the bunk beds down and then decide if Ian will be up with Asher or down with Duncan. Duncan changes his mind by the day on whether or not Ian should move down with him! Either way, Asher needs to get the boot out of my room! He is a light sleeper and so am I.

Not sure what is going to happen with my exercise stuff since I think that will be the room they land in. I only use it in between pregnancies and it's got quite the layer of dust! Yes, I am totally one of those people that considers pregnancy as an excuse to pig out and eat whatever I want. Why not when it's back to the grind just a couple months after? I look more like a whale than a pregnant girl, but hey... You are only pregnant once, or twice... Or like four times, but whatever.

Last week we had PT with Mike and we went to the park, but not the playground... We tackled some enormous hills! The boys thought the hills were great. They were running and collecting branches and doing a good job keeping themselves entertained while Dylan was working.  We got to play a little at the park after but Dylan was ready for bed and she slept a few hours after we got home. PT wears her out.

Mike had her climb some big cement steps and then climb hills, on her feet, walking! Her new braces work great for going up hill because of the flex in the ankle, would be a lot hard to climb with ankles held stationary right? Would be super tricky. She did really well but she hated every second. She would cry and complain the entire way until she got her toy at the top of the hill and then she would be laughing and fine. She just didn't want to work.

Last day of school last Wednesday and Duncan wasn't grasping that it was really is it for his teachers! Boo hoo. He asked if he had school today and I was like "no... I told you that you don't have school for a long time!" Might be a long summer for us! Play Doh seemed to keep them occupied for a while today... What will it be all the other days of the summer? HELP?!

Duncan took half a plastic ball, egg thing and us it on the Play Doh and he said "look mom, I made an ice statue!!" I was like 'ice statue??' and I looked over and he had an igloo. Ice statue. Cute.


I think he wanted the camera...

My baby is a cat... he tries to climb in all kinds of things, boxes, toys... Duncan has a treasure box that is abut 5x8 inches and he put a foot in and sat down. I don't think he quite understood why he didn't fit.

Another example. This toy is one of the best toys on the planet. It comes with cars that have balls in them so they roll around but Asher will find something (anything... measuring cup?), you will see a spark and he will boogie over to the toy, put it in and hit the thing to watch it spin. Big or little, no toy is off limits and clearly it withstands punishment.

Best part about daddy changing lightbulbs... the ladder!

One of our egg chairs is in Dylan's room and Asher LOVES it. He bee lines there. And, of course, if Asher wants something (or if ANYone wants something) Ian wants it too.

Hard work - Look at her face!

More climbing, and more complaining.

Climbing big cement stairs - Looking for other options but clearly Mike is not giving her another way out. 

Look how good her brothers were being... So cute.