We Are Still Here...I Promise

Ok...I know it has been forever since I last posted. What can I say? Life just seems to go so quickly and we have been so busy, for a number of reasons. In the past month, we had Valentine's Day...of which my wonderful husband made me homemade lava cakes....and by homemade, I mean from scratch, including the whipped cream and chocolate. They were soooo good! Then March 9th was my 37th birthday. Seems hard to believe that I am 37. I still feel 25 most of the time...just a little wiser lol. The rest of the time has been spent driving to and from dance classes and OT and girl scouts and youth.....etc, etc. OH...and I started my grad classes! Whew...we have been busy! Lily is currently getting ready for a show tonight for her Irish dance. It is a pretty big deal with a live band! I will update hopefully sometime this week with pictures from St. Patrick's Day parade. Stay tuned!!!

SPD

As we are learning about SPD, aka sensory processing disorder, with Trey, we are discovering that he does nothing "by the book". He has many of the "symptoms", but his need for so much sensory intake makes it a daily struggle with him on meeting it. He seems to be okay at school (more in the afternoon, than morning). He is then, as we put it, "off the hook" at home. I was telling his OT yesterday about how, especially at bedtime, he is completely out of control...he is constantly struggling to pay attention to what is said to him, constantly in motion, and VERY easily frustrated. Something as simple as taking off his socks to get ready for bed, can have him kicking, crying, and lashing out. I struggle with bath time, haircuts, nail trims, putting pjs on, going to the bathroom, brushing teeth... just to name a few. He has so many OCD type things and is very inflexible about changes, which I hate to say as mom makes me not enjoy evenings until after he goes to bed. I hope that didn't make me sound like I don't love him. I love him soooo much, but I like him better during the day than at night. He did great at OT again yesterday....I told her how much better he did the last time, so she incorporated what he loves (spinning) and, again, he had a great night. If I could have/do whatever I wanted, I would build Trey a sensory gym room, where he could get all he needed everyday. It know it would make our lives somewhat smoother and his. I got some suggestions from my OT at school, but I need more. I'm going to have to go online to try and find some alternatives for him that will feed his sensory need, but not break the bank. Wish me luck.

Mixed Emotions

Last night, Alyssa and I had planned this "goodbye" dinner for our father-in-law, Dan/Poppy. It was fun, as always, but kind of sad. He is leaving Monday for Florida....for good. He is officially retired. He has been here for 2 1/2 years finishing up his retirement. It was only supposed to be for a year, but....well...things just don't always go as planned. My mother-in-law, Carol/Mimi, has been in Florida by herself (well, not totally as my other BIL and two SIL live there, in the same neighborhood) and I know she has hated the separation. I would have. I have lived 13 months without my husband and it was not something I would care to ever repeat! However, from a completely selfish point of view, we are really going to miss him. Lily has this bond with her Poppy....she loves to snuggle up to him and just be close. He doesn't have to say anything....she doesn't have to say anything...she just loves being next to him...or sitting in his lap! In Trey's mind, Florida isn't that far...but I know once Poppy leaves, he will be asking when he is coming back and why we can't go to Florida....right now. Meghan will miss all the teasing Poppy does. I think the biggest fear I have for our family is that now that he is moving back, we just won't see them that often anymore. Life can get busy...as we all know...and expensive...so visits will be few and far between. That is where the selfish part comes in. I am so excited for Carol, but really sad at the same time. Change is hard...and we will adjust....again...but it still sucks.

Trey and the OT

Trey had the best session he has ever had thus far on Friday. He goes to the OT every other Friday for an hour. I honestly wish it were more often, but I don't want to have to pay that often. We have been working with Ms. Crystal to figure out Trey's sensory input threshold. This boy can seriously take in a lot of input. He gets in this "cage" and is hooked up to bungee cords and an strap that you might wear when repelling. He is able to bounce and get a lot of sensory input this way. He has to work really hard at jumping onto a "log" and getting balls off from the sides. He also does this cool metronome thing that is supposed to help with his attention span. He is up to 2 minutes, but struggles to focus the entire time. He is making progress. He loves when she sets up an obstacle course in their gym, but this time he got to get on the platform swing and spin. She would spin him on all planes (laying down on his side, back, and stomach, and sitting up). She was afraid he might have too much input doing that and told me to watch for complaints of head hurting or stomach hurting. He had none! He amazed me by getting off the swing and just walking over to do some coloring....with no falling down from dizziness or anything! I got dizzy just watching him spin on that swing! He did some other things in the gym that he loves, like the scooter and the hammock swing. He was so good after we got home....so calm. We finally hit the threshold! I wish I could have that everyday. Most days it is a struggle once we get home....he is loud, running into things, craving input that I just can't seem to get into him to meet that threshold. I am hopeful that my OT at school can give me some suggestions to create our own sensory gym here at home. It would make our evening so much more enjoyable...and his too!

Snow Days

We are now up to 7 snow days....same as last year and we are currently due to get out June 3rd....same as last year. However, we haven't even gotten into February yet. I don't mind a snow day, or even two, but I absolutely hate having one every week! All this snow makes me unmotivated and so blah! It got up to 50 today was so sunny! I have missed the sun! I long for summer!!!

Happy Birthday to Daniel!

January 19th we celebrated Daniel's birthday. Since it was a Wednesday night, we weren't able to go out to eat, so I made Italian for supper and Meghan made her daddy a cookie cake...his favorite dessert! He got some new dress shoes and a movie. Meg did a great job on his cookie (made from scratch!)! Trey picked out the plates and wanted Daddy to have a Happy birthday sign like his cousins Wilson and Luke had. It was a good birthday! Happy birthday, babe!

New Years Eve 2010

We went to Andy and Alyssa's house for a little NYE party. The kids did a great job playing well together (I think they all missed each other!). Meghan spent the night with her BFF, Katie, so it was just Lily and Trey. We toasted in the new year around 9 or so....just b/c the kids needed to go to bed. Sparkling grape juice for them and champagne for us. Happy New Year!