Look Ma! No Hands!

For all you California readers....just a reminder that you have to have a hands-free phone device as of 12am on July 1st! There is no grace period!

The Face of Concentration

Until this last week, Princess J has not wanted any part of the balance beem at The Little Gym. Every week, we try and try to introduce her to the balance beam. Finally, after weeks of coaxing and trying to get her comfortable on the balance beam it has paid off. The first time earlier this week which I didn't get any photos of, she would not let go of my hand for anything. Then on Sunday at Tanner's birthday party, she wanted to do it by herself. She had a great time and was so proud of herself.

She even was trying to stand on one foot periodically! Have I told you how much she loves Little Gym? LOL!

Little Miss Princess here, is also a BIG fan of the cupcake. Tanner had cupcakes at his party and she was all over it. She definately enjoyed it. The funniest part though was that she tried to steal a couple of other kids cupcakes. I wish I had pictures of the cupcake stealing, but I was too busy getting the cupcakes away from her and trying to make her "appologize". :D

Little Miss Independent!

This little girl is ready for anything! This little girl knows what she wants and God bless the person (usually Mommy) who stand in her way of getting it! Of course the only fun stuff is stuff that are not for toddlers. This little girl has a one track mind when she wants something. She is definately interested in doing things on her own now. There was a time where she would not even think about holding her own bottle no matter how hard we tried. Now she wants to do it all by herself. I knew when I was trying to get her to hold that bottle all by herself, that when she was ready to do it, I would miss holding it for her. Now, our little princess is ready to feed herself. She loves feeding herself! She made quite a mess, but she ate every last bite of food tonight....including her peas! I really can't believe that she is almost 15 months old! Here are some of the things I want to remember about this time.

1. She LOVES going to the Little Gym!

2. She is super independent!

3. If she does not take a nap, she is SUPER GRUMPY!

4. Currently she loves vegatables.....I wonder how long that will last!

5. She's getting the idea of cleaning up after playing. If we sing the clean up song, she will pick up one item and put it in it's place, but after that, she just picks up items that are already put away and puts them back in and claps for herself.....forget the rest of the stuff on the floor!

6. She still loves peek-a-boo.

7. She only likes when Noggin is on television...especially Max and Ruby, Yo! Gabba Gabba, and the Backyardigans.

8. She still screams if Oobi is on television...even commercials!

9. She knows when she's done with something....when she's done...she's done.

10. While she loves her brother, often times she can be seen clapping when we drop him off at school. Of course she often claps when we pick him up too (unless she's being super grump).

11. She has the sweetest smile ever!

First Day of School!!!!

Part one of summer break is over and Little J is back in school! I don't know who was more excited, Little J, Princess J or mommy! Okay, so I know he was only out for a week, but there are so many things that are just easier to do with just one little one in tow, and it gives me a little special time with Princess J. Little J loves school too and all his friends are there with him. When Little J arrived at school a few of his friends were already there, and they all said YAY! Little J is here (well, they didn't say little J, they actually used his name, but you get the point). When I picked Little J up, he looked like he had a great time and as always was full of smiles and laughter. They said they played outside and got lots of exercise. Then, Little J had his usual physical therapy appointment. Sherri worked him hard too!

Princess J, got a big play workout today. She had the play area to herself and took full advantage of it. She played so hard that she fell asleep mid-play.....twice! It was so cute, I had to take a few photos......and then I couldn't help but get a photo of her cute little feet.

So, with school starting again, we are getting back into the groove of a schedule again. I am thankful for that.

As a side note, you will notice the scared look on my face in the photo. Little J was very excited about going to school and he was full of exuberant energy. Those of you who know Little J and those of you who have your own angels will know that this look of impending doom was fear of the loss of a chunk of hair!!! LOL!! If you saw the photo G took after this one, you would see a huge chunk of my hair in his strong little hands!! LOL!

Up Late....

It is hecka late and I cannot sleep. I've got tons of things on my mind and lots of things on my "to do" list. Of course it's late and everyone is asleep, so I can't really accomplish anything. Little J is on summer break for a whole week (he goes to school through July). G's not feeling well, he actually called in sick to work for the first time since he started with the department almost 12 years ago. Poor G is not one who likes to be down for the count or sit still for a minute. I've been running around trying to do my best to take care of everyone and everything that needs to be done....and I actually enjoy doing it. It's just a lot of work and I'm tired and I can't sleep. Oy! What's a girl to do. We're also wrestling with plans and settling things for our future. So many things about being a mommy and daddy to two beautiful little ones make decision making harder. It's even tougher when one of them has special needs.

It's hard to be a serious planner when you've always been a go with the flow kind of girl. Good thing I married an over planner! It still makes decision making hard. I just love my little ones and my husband so much and want them all to have the happiest life ever! Finding the balance for what will make each of us happy and also meet the needs the Little J has is so hard and scary........

The joy and blessings of sweet little ones....

Happy Father's Day!!!

Poor Daddy had to work today. So, the kids and I ran around doing errends while he was working. We did a little bit of celebrating when he got home with a few gifts. You can already guess from an earlier post that he got the CHiP's second season DVD's along with the soundtrack. We also put together this photo frame. Originally, it was just going to say "We Love You Daddy" with the kids names after it. Then I started blog jumping and from Krista's blog (which is set to private which is why I didn't link it) I went to her Sister-in-law's blog (which I'm not linking, since I'm not sure she'd wanna be linked) and saw this quote on a gift she gave to a friend. Loved it so much I had to copy it (Krista-tell her I said Thanks!). Anyway, it says "The greatest gift we ever got came from God, We call him Daddy!"

I think he really enjoyed the gifts, even if what he was supposed to get was the Little Giant Ladder System. The kids and I had every intention of getting it, but once Little J got sick and then Princess J, we just didn't get out to Costco in time for their roadshow on them. So, we will wait for the next Costco display of the item which I hope will be very soon......

G really is an amazing daddy. He works so hard for our family and comes home and makes sure he spends quality time with both kids. WE LOVE YOU G!

Happy Father's day to all the Daddy's out there too!

Just Because I Love these Photos!

Nothing much to blog about today except that we are getting ready for Father's Day. Took the kids on a short walk today in Little J's wagon and took a few photos along the way. As you can see Princess J wanted to do a little walking as well!

Little Gym!

Once Little J started school, it gave us an opportunity to find things for Princess J to participate in. We started taking her to the The Little Gym. She loves this place! They sing lots of songs and have lots of activities for the little ones to explore and try out. When we first started, Princess J was one of the few non-walkers in her Little Birds class (10-18month olds). Now, she is crazy busy all over the place in there! I thought she was a fast crawler, but she is an outta control walker! She loves to explore and climb all over everything. Her favorite things to do are play with the bells (she hates when it's time to put the bells away!), forward rolls and handstands. We have kept trying the balance beam, but she has been pretty resistant to it until this last week. She has made some friends in her class and definately likes the cute boys!

We love this place, everyone who works there is so sweet and nice and all of the kids and parents in her class are awesome! We were kind of sad this week, because we had to go to a different class, because Little J's last day of school was on her regular class day and we had to pick him up early. I hope that many of her same classmates will be in the next session as I'd like to get some photos of her with her regular teacher and some of her favorite friends....especially the little boy who gave her her first kiss!

Little J is off school this next week, so hopefully we'll get a few fun things in before he heads off to summer school.

{Mixed Bag}

This last week has been super crazy. Lots of different things going on. Some of it good and some of it not so good.

Everyone in the house has been fighting some type of bug. Well, actually I'm sure it's the same bug, we've just all got it a little different. Thankfully, Little J is good enough to go back to school! He loves school so much, so it was good to take him back. According to his teachers, he was received with a standing ovation from his classmates. They all missed him. This just warmed my heart. Little J is the popular kid in class! LOL! Apparently the other kids "fight" over who's going to help him or pick up his binkie! I told the teacher, maybe I should offer to watch some of these kids after school.....picking up after Little J can get a bit tiring! This is his last week of school for this term. A few of his friends are graduating to elementary school, but I was glad that most of them will be at school for the summer session before heading off. Little J has a week off and then heads back to school for the summer term.

Princess J and I have our plane reservations for a little girls trip in July! We're not going far, but we're headed up to my Mother-in-laws to go to the Sisters Quilt Show. I am by no means a quilter, nor do I intend to take up this hobby, but I just love the creativity of quilting. I love how they can take those tiny pieces of fabric and thread and make such beautiful creations. We'll be spending some time with my Mother-in-law and at least one of my Sister-in-laws as well as my niece. It will be a fun time for the girls. It will also give daddy and Little J some man time! :D

Finishing up things for G's father's day gifts. My original plans were thwarted by all the sickness in the house, but I think he'll be happy.

We've been shopping for some new furniture. Can't decide exactly what I want yet, but I'm narrowing it down, so hopefully we'll have some new comfy furniture soon!

With all the kiddos sick, I ended up missing lunch with my Alpha Phi sisters. I was so disappointed, but happy to hear that one of my sisters is expecting her first little one! I know her and her hubby have been trying for awhile, so it was the most excellent news! I am so happy for her!

I do have one prayer request. Another mommy with a daughter with Angelman Syndrome was given some devistating news about her other youngest daughter. She was diagnosed with another rare disorder called Leigh's disease. The prognosis for her 11 month old is not good. Children with Leigh's disease generally have a 2 to 3 year life expectency. I do know another mommy with a daughter with the same disease who is now 12, so all the prayers you can send for this family would be a blessing. Miracles are always possible!

Cabin Fever

So, Little J is still home from school. Just when I thought he had been fever free for 24 hours, he pulls out another fever bout. OY! The bad thing is, that next week is the last week of school and there are a few kids who are headed off to Kindergarten. I know that Little J is really going to miss a few of them that won't be returning so I'm a little sad that he's missing out this week. He goes to school next week for 4 days and then has a week off before he goes to summer school I think that week, I'm going to take the kiddos to the zoo....

As of right now, I have cabin fever so bad now! I had all these plans of things to get done this week and I've been stuck at home! Next week is going to be so packed now, trying to get this weeks stuff done and prepping for the week of no school. So, what does one do when they are stuck at home and can't be out in the real world? Yep, we hop on the internet and pretend we're out in the real world!!! LOL!!! It always leads to a little shopping too! So, look what I found!

Hearts of Sailing!

A few months ago, I mentioned that Little J was invited to go on a sailing trip with an organization called Hearts of Sailing. This amazing organization introduces the exhileration of sailing to those with cognitive disabilites. This could not have been a more wonderful and fun opportunity for Little J and our family. What more could a kid who has an intense love for wind and water ask for, but a sailing trip! Hearts of Sailing was started by Captain George Saidah. What an wonderful, kind generous man he is. It was so wonderful to meet him and enjoy our sail trip with him. Currently Hearts of Sailing does not have a chapter in the San Francisco Bay Area, but thanks to Brian Richards (who has a 10 year old son with Angelman Syndrome) that may all be changing. This weekend was Hearts of Sailings first voyage in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our trip was 2 hours long and we shared it with another family with a son with Autism. It was wonderful to meet them as well. There were also others involved including Captain John and Brian and Jessica who made us feel so welcome and really took us on the sail of a lifetime for Little J! All of these people will have a special place in my heart forever. I hope someday we will get to sail with all of these wonderful people again.

It was quite cold, windy and choppy out on the water, so this did not make Princess J all too happy. Actually, she was really not all that happy from the first snap of the life jacket. She really looked like a cute little marshmellow! We tried taking her down below for a little while (which hindered the photo opportunities up above) and all she wanted to do was walk, but with her unsteady balance at 14 months old and the swaying of the boat, it was not the easiest task! She was a bit put off by it. Little J on the other hand was in happy heaven in the wind and near the water. He was a little subdued (and now we know why), but we could tell he had a wonderful time. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and snacks as we headed back into the dock area. This is when Princess J really started to enjoy things. She was standing up on mommy and waiving to all the people in their boats along the shore. She was making lots of noise too! LOL!!!

On a small down note, we figured out why Little J was a bit subdued, on Sunday evening he started running a temperature of 102.6 to 103.4 and we could not get it to come down even after motrin! Poor little kid did not get much sleep. This morning he woke a bit perkier, but as soon as the motrin started to wear off his temperature shot up again to 103.4. So, we took him to the doctor. Thankfully, he doesn't have strep throat, but still the fevers are very worrisome for us. As his temperature goes up, his threshold for seizures comes down and we've been seeing some seizure activity. Also, when he's not getting good sleep, the threshold comes down. So, we're really in the woods so to speak. When Little J has a fever, we have to check on him mulitple times through the night to monitor him, so we really don't get a lot of sleep either. It is so hard to see Little J sick, because of the added stress of the seizures. Please send some prayers for Little J that his virus will pass soon, so that he could get some good sleep, be able to go back to school and also his seizure activity will go away.