And then it was June...............

Where has this year gone? I know I say that often, that time goes by too fast, that I blink and things are over. But really, it is crazy. This has been a great year, Ashley finished her first year in elementary school. Peyton had his best year of preschool yet with the best teacher he may ever have! Such a loving and sweet lady and I miss seeing Mrs. Prevatte every day. In April, I decided to put Peyton in full day Pre-K in the fall instead of a 4 day half day preschool program. I hope he does well and likes it, he will be in the same class that Ashley was in last year. The teacher is amazing and I know he will love it. If all goes well, he will be starting kindergarten in one short year!

My sweet sweet Charlotte just turned 15 months. She brightens my day and makes life such a better place. She is still a shorty, but slowly growing. Her hair is light blonde, not as blonde as Ashley's was, but pretty close! She is crawling and cruising all over the place. No walking yet, but I think she will get it in the next couple of months. She talks up a storm and I am amazed at all the things she says! Her favorite thing to do now is sing "Let it Go" from Frozen. She will repeat almost anything we say and my favorite words she says are "apple" and "poopy" because she is just so darn cute. Big changes coming up in the next couple months for her child care, but I think it will all work out (fingers crossed!).

We are still in our current house and making it work for now. I recently read Dave Ramsey and am in debt payoff mode, so if all goes well, the only debt we will have early next year will be our mortgage. I cannot wait! I would love to save for another year on top of that and then make a decision about buying or building. We have not felt led to do anything and a part of me thinks there is a reason why. I feel something may happen in the next year or two that will really let us know what we need to do (whether it is a job change, a move, change with schools, etc). And for that reason alone, I want to stay put, pay off our debt, save money and let the cards fall into place.

Ashley only has 3 weeks left of summer vacation until she starts first grade. To say she has been difficult would be an understatement. I do not know what has gotten into her. My patience with her is so thin and I really need to work on it. I am scared I am going to say something to her I cannot take back. I don't know if it is because she has been on a new schedule or if things are just coming to a head with her "issues". She had a great end of the year, her report card was stellar, all 4s (which is above grade level) and her reading is above grade level as well. But I don't think her teacher was in tune with her (or any of the kids) as her other teacher, so a part of me fears that she really didn't "improve", but more that her teacher just didn't "get it". I guess we will see how first grade pans out. I have spoken to her principal and requested a specific teacher for her for first grade, but we will see how that pans out as well.

Happy summer!

2014

I have been such a slacker with the blog, I know it is partly because I cannot figure out how to upload pictures and it almost seems pointless to post unless I can include pictures.

We had a wonderful Christmas, it was nice to spend time together as a family. Ashley and Peyton really did drive me crazy though. I think they are used to being on the go all the time and being on a schedule that over two weeks of no schedule was really too much for them. And too much for me! At least in the summer we can get out to the pool. We were stuck in the house most days and I really thought I would lose my mind by January 5th.

Charlotte turned 10 months on January 18th! In less than two months, she will be one. We had her 9 month appointment last week (a little late, huh?) and she has fallen off the growth chart for height. I know she is short, but I did not realize she was THAT short. She was 26 inches, which is around the 1st percentile. She had been around the 13th percentile. She was 17 pounds, 9 ounces, which is around the 35th percentile for weight. She had been following a curve, a small curve, but a curve none the less and now her height has dropped off the curve. The doctor is not concerned, but she said we do need to keep an eye on it because it could be a sign of a growth disorder. But other than that, she is great! She is still my sweet smiley baby. She is laughing all the time and saying "mama" and "dada" and I think she is trying to say "dog". I don't know if she associates Ryan and I with those words, but it is cute to hear her say them. She has turned into a fabulous sleeper, she may be my best one yet! And she is getting up on her knees, scooting backwards, rolling all over the place and trying to crawl. I stood her next to one of Peyton's classmate's sister today (Charlotte is 10 days older than her) and the other baby is literally TWICE the size/height of Charlotte. Charlotte looked like she was about 6 months younger than the other baby. She may be taking after Ryan's mom, but I really hope she will be taller than 4'11.

Ashley has a new teacher for kindergarten. The last day before Christmas break, we received a letter that her fabulous teacher, Mrs. Garner, accepted a job as director of preschools for Montgomery County. To say I was crushed is an understatement. Ashley loves school, but is having her normal issues of focusing and zoning out and also silly behavior and Mrs. Garner knows how to interact with her and redirect her. I am hoping her new teacher will be able to do the same. Ashley seemed excited about her new teacher, but she did get a little upset last night when I think she fully realized that Mrs. Garner is not coming back anymore.

With everything we have been through regarding teachers and schools, I think I should be prepared for anything by now!

So far 2014 has started out very slow and tedious, but I am hoping for a  fabulous year. We are hoping to take a family vacation (other than the beach) this year and I am trying to convince Ryan to go on a Disney Cruise. More to come on that.........

How Is It December Already?

Wow! Just wow! I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by. I cannot believe that Christmas is only 16 days away. And I cannot believe that my baby girl will be one is almost 3 short months. This is my favorite time of the year, but it always makes me a little sad because I know how quickly it goes by. I am trying to treasure every moment of the craziness, but a small part of me longs to hold on just a bit longer because I know in a short time, it will be over.

Things are going really well for us. Charlotte is FINALLY sleeping through the night, normally from 7p-7a. She has had this schedule about a month or so. She is starting to eat more "grown up" food and not just purees. She loves my oatmeal and I have given her some pasta, peas and bits of quesadilla. There is not much she doesn't like except plain Greek yogurt. I think I ended up wearing more of it than her :-)

It's Always Something

This has become my mantra. It's always something. Because it is. Even when things seems good and the week will be slow, something always comes up. Always. I guess that is just the new normal for us now and will be for a very long time.

Charlotte turned 7 months on October 18th. I cannot believe it. Like, REALLY cannot believe it. Before I blink, she will be one. She is the sweetest most smiley baby I have ever seen. I am not biased, I swear! She will give you the biggest grin, as one person said, she smiles with her eyes. Everywhere we go, people comment on her precious smile. She is finally sleeping better. I think the twice a night wake ups were tied into her ear infection. She normally goes to sleep around 7pm and will wake up anytime between 3:30-5 to nurse and will go back down until 7 or so. Since she has started eating more solids, she only has one bottle a day when I am work (4 ounces). My milk supply seems to be doing really well and she is still interested in nursing. I have said my goal is a year, but if she is still interested and I still have milk, I will keep going.

Peyton had two bad days at school this week. My heart sank when I found out. We have had some issues with him at home (not listening and following directions), but I was disheartened to hear he was acting that way at school. I guess with everything we have been through with Ashley, I was (am) hoping we won't have issues with Peyton at school. I called his teacher yesterday to discuss everything and she said 6 or the 8 kids in his class had a bad day, so he is not the only one. That poor woman! Luckily, he had a great day today and so did his other classmates.

He has been asking me to stay home and not go to work. And he wants me to pick him up everyday. It is breaking my heart. I love my little buddy and I definitely don't get as much alone time with him as I had before Charlotte was born. Today I picked him up and took him to the park for a picnic lunch. It was so nice to spend that time with him and I am going to try to do that once a week, at least. I am thinking of changing my work schedule to work two afternoons a week so I can pick him up from school those two days and eat lunch with him.

Balance, it is tough one, with three kids and working, even part time. I hate to quit my job now and it would not be the best financial move for us either. But I also hate how I feel when I can't be there to pick him up and spend time with him. I don't want to look back on this time when he is older and kick myself for not making it work to spend that time with him. I will try out my new schedule and see how that works. I don't want to miss out on time with Ashley either, but if I can go and eat lunch with her once a week, that will help on the day that I am not home in the afternoon. Or at least that is what I will tell myself for now.

Ashley

Oh Ashley. Oh my sweet, silly, smart, sometimes challenging Ashley! Where to even begin? Ashley started kindergarten on July 15th. We decided to do an extra year of pre-K because she has a July birthday and because of all the challenges we have had with her (her developmental delays, her maturity and her listening). She really loves school. I was nervous for her because she is NOT a morning person and school starts promptly at 7:30. Lucky for me, Ryan gets her up in the morning and takes her to school.

She is learning so much! It amazes me how much they pack into their days. She is reading, writing and spelling already. She has homework every night. Normally it is a book, sight words flashcards and either some type of worksheet or something verbal (synonyms, antonyms, senses, verbs, nouns, etc). It seems like a lot for a kindergartener, but she seems to be picking everything up. But academics were never her issue.

Ashley started fall break on September 19th. I had her teacher conference that day too with her fabulous teacher, Mrs. Garner. She has Mrs. Garner, a teacher's assistant, Ms. Blue and a student teacher. So I am very thankful there are three teachers/helpers in her class of 24 students!

The conference went as I expected. Ashley is doing great academically, she is right on grade level for everything. She scored very high on a test they gave the students. But her teacher brought up concerns with Ashley's focus and listening. Sound familiar? She is concerned because she feels Ashley "zones" out and when she tries to talk to her or reach her, she looks at her blankly. She seems to think this is something Ashley cannot control. When they switch tasks, sometimes Ashley is still back on the task they were just doing (for example, they work on a program on ipads that has songs to help them with phonetics. Then they move to reading groups and she told me Ashley will be turned around in her chair, still singing the song from the ipads). Her teacher also has issues getting her to line up from the playground, she told she and the students will be calling Ashley's name to line up, all somewhat close to her and Ashley does not hear them.

On a good note, she told me Ashley is doing well with social interaction. She said she is well received by her classmates and that she is a good friend and has her own group of girlfriends. That made me very happy to hear because that is something she has sometimes struggled with in the past.

So our next steps is to have a committee at her school review her case and put together some strategies to help Ashley focus better in the classroom. If the strategies do not work, our next step will be to do an evaluation with the school psychologist. Her teacher has been wonderful to work on this.

I have done so much research over the past two years and nothing seems to fit Ashley to a tee (ADHD Inattentive Type, autism, etc). So I don't know if she will ever get a diagnosis or if we will just always have to work a little harder with her. She is the sweetest, most loving little girl and it makes me worry what types of challenges she is going to face growing up and how she may be hurt by her peers. She is so absorbed in her artwork and projects at home, she really amazes me with what she does. Maybe art is in her future and that will be an escape for her.

I am hopeful that we will get some answers soon and find the best ways to help my sweet girl!

Peyton

Peyton started preschool on August 14th. He is going to a new preschool this year. I loved his preschool last year, but I did not like the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. He is going to Sandhills Classical Christian Preschool (the same school Ashley went to pre-K). He goes Monday-Thursday and the school is right across the street from our neighborhood. I walk him to school each morning. I put him and Charlotte in the stroller and away we go! I think it may be my most favorite part of the day. After we drop him off, Charlotte and I go for a little walk, just the two of us. It is relaxing and allows me time to chat with Peyton and Charlotte and not be in and out of the car, which is usually the story of my life!

I had some concerns when I first saw his classroom, it is tiny! But his teacher, Mrs. Prevatte, is AMAZING and she is doing such a good job with the classroom and her 8 students. There are 5 boys and 3 girls, so I know she has her hands full. She has such a loving heart and is so much fun to be around, Peyton is very blessed to have her as his teacher. She has told me that Peyton is "super smart" and keeps her on her toes. He always wants to do new things and is asking questions, so she told me she has to be prepared. He is doing really well and has only had one bad listening day. I am hoping that the preschool will be in the same church next year so we can continue our morning walks and easy commute.

Peyton is such a sweet boy, but can be challenging at times. In part, because he is so smart and in part, because he is a three year old boy! He is stubborn and hard headed, but can be so loving and sweet. He loves to sing songs and do puzzles. He loves to play with trains and cars. I cannot wait to see what this year brings!

Catch Up!

Where has the time gone? I cannot believe it is October already. I love fall, but I feel like I blinked and summer was gone. I am having issues getting my pictures to upload for this blog. I hate that, I love having pictures to go along with the posts.

Charlotte is now six months old! And she has had her first ear infection. Knock on wood, Peyton is three and has never had one, but here is she is only 6 months and has one. Guess that is what happens when you have an older brother and sister in school.

Charlotte woke up on Saturday with crusty eyes. They got progressively worse so I took her to the doctor Monday. She had an ear infection which turned into an eye infection. She started antibiotics and is already looking so much better!

She turned six months on September 18th. She is able to roll from belly to back and back to belly, but she does not do it often. She prefers to lay on her back or side and play with toys. We are working on sitting too. She can sit with me behind her and be somewhat steady, but is definitely not sitting unassisted yet.

We started solids a week before she turned six months and she loved them from the start! She has had sweet potatoes, squash, avocado, banana, peas, pears and applesauce. She gagged herself on the peas (just like her big brother!), so I mix them with sweet potatoes or squash and she loves them. I am making her food, just like I did with Ashley and Peyton. I really enjoy it and it is so simple. I am buying the peas though because I made them with Ashley and the texture is better with store bought peas. She does not seem to have an issue with texture, she will gobble up some chunky applesauce, so I am buying that too.

She is such a sweet baby girl, I love to be with her all the time! She is still not a great sleeper though. For the most part, she wakes up twice a night. She has done many nights with just one waking, so I know she can do it! The two wakings are tough! We FINALLY got a video monitor, I have no idea what took us so long to get one. So I have been letting her fuss a bit in her crib if she wakes up only a couple hours after eating. She is still nursing well and getting about 8 ounces of formula a day. She goes to her 6 month appointment on the 7th, so I am curious if my "shorty" has gotten any taller.