Aftermath

Ok, so maybe my title is a bit extreme...

We took Preston to Harbor Behavioral Center yesterday, to be evaluated by a counselor. I had to take Allison & Mason to my neice's house, because it was just supposed to be David, Preston and myself. (kids didn't have schooll; teacher in-service day).

We got there at 10:30 am and filled out the paperwork, met with billing, etc. About 11:10 am, the counselor (evaluator) finally called us back.

She sat and talked with us for over an hour. Asking questions to both Preston and us. We explained what was going on at school, showed her some of his behavioral charts (with the notes from the teacher on back) and gave her a letter that his teacher wrote to Preston's doctor. We explained the behavior that the school is seeing and how we don't see any of this. We don't see the anger or aggressiveness. Preston doesn't speak to us like he supposedly speaks to his teachers. Preston doesn't hit us or his sister (besides usual sibling arguing) and doesn't hit himself. Preston doesn't run away from us and out the front door. Preston doesn't tell us he hates us or even use the word hate. Preston does not throw things or kick things or turn things over because he is angry. We explained to the counselor that Preston is fine with us, with relatives, at playdates, at birthday parties, at hockey practice and when people are over. We tried to explain to her what his teacher was telling us on how he acts at school; like the exorcist child basically.

Now, at Preston's pre-school, there are two teachers. The main teacher, Ms. Rebecca and the secondary teacher, Mrs. A (Augustyniak). Last week, on Tuesday, Ms. Rebecca decided that Preston was going to stay with Mrs. A all day. He was no longer going to have work time with Ms. Rebecca, and that he would be having more one on one time this way. Wednesday and Thursday, Preston got 6 stars out of 6 stars. This new arrangement seemed to be working. He did have one "smaller" temper tantrum each of these days, but did not throw anything, hit anyone or run away from anyone.

Thursday, Preston had his 5 year check-up and did get 5 shots (including a tetanus shot) so his leg was a little sore on Friday. I gave him some Motrin and sent him off to school, reminding him to be on his best behavior and keep up the good work. I told him that if he got 6 stars again, he could get a new toy. Friday was not such a good day.

This is EXACTLY what the note from Friday said:
"Very rough day. Threw blocks, ran away from Mrs. A in parking lot (about 2-3 times)-pushed children, threw many things, kicked students. Major temper tantrum had to be pulled out of class. Sat on tables. Lost outside time."

Yes, this is a bad report...maybe one of the worst yet. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I asked him what happened when we got home on Friday. He swore that he didn't run into the parking lot. He was crying and sobbing and said "Mrs. A was reading a book to us outside. I didn't want to listen anymore, so I ran to the door and tried to get back in school, but it was locked". I asked him numerous times about this behavior and tried to explain how dangerous it was to run into the parking lot. He still swore that he didn't do it, while crying...I had a hard time believing that he was lying to me. He did admit to pushing Ethan (his best friend; they wrestle and rough-house constantly, and are separated most of the time). He did admit to throwing blocks, but couldn't explain why.

Friday, while we were outside, the principal called and left a message. She wanted to discuss Preston's behavior at school this day. She said she would call back later. By this time, I had already scheduled the evaluation at Harbor, but hadn't had a chance to advise the school.

So, now we're back to Monday. The counselor read Ms. Rebecca's letter and said "She sounds condenscending". We agreed. Then said, "She's also very worried about his potty-training". We agreed again, stating that there are not really any potty issues at school anymore, just when his behavior gets really bad...he might poop in his pants, but it hasn't happened very often lately. Anyhow, like I said, the more we talked, the more I realized that the problem is Ms. Rebecca. Like, in January, when Preston was touching another students food at lunch. He was then sent to a separate table and forced to sit by himself for the entire month of January. The counselor was shocked. Or how in the morning, Ms. Rebecca doesn't say "Hi Preston, how are you?", instead she says "Hi Preston, are we going to be better today?". Basically, she has labled him as the bad kid. She's pegs him every morning and doesn't even give the kid a chance to get into class and start anew. She's setting the tone for his behavior (not to mention that she talks to everyone like they're 3 - even parents). Lately, she's even blaming Preston for other childrens' bad behavior at school. She told my good friend, Christina, that her son was bad one day. She said "Well, we have another student who has been doing this and Jett must be seeing this behavior". Of course Christina was going to tell me...not to mention that Jett was running into the parking lot before Preston ever did it and Jett has been saying "I hate you" way before Preston ever started. Preston told the counselor he wanted to go to kindergarten; the kindergarten teacher says hi to him and shakes his hand...see, treat him with a little respect and you may get some in return! He also told the counselor that pre-school is boring and he doesn't like Ms. Rebecca; she's mean.

The counselor recommended counseling for Preston..more to see how much of it was him and how much was the school environment. She agreed that if did have some disorder we would be seeing it elsewhere than just at school.

Let me say that Preston is NOT an angel. He does give us an attitude sometimes when we tell him it's time to clean up or time to go to bed. He'll do what we say, but may say "I'm mad at you" and cross his arms, and stomp up the stairs, but usually forgets by the time we get to brushing his teeth. He will hit Allison if they are arguing over a toy or she's trying to boss him around. Most of the time, she instigates the whole thing, and might push him, so he hits her...but again, that's sibling stuff; I did worse with my little brother back in the day.

So, we go get Allison & Mason from my neice's house. I get there, and Kelly is rocking Mason...said "He kept crying unless I stood up and rocked him". He only ate 1 ounce of his bottle for her, and it had been almost 3 1/2 hours since I'd fed him. She handed him over to me, and he looked up at me and gave me the biggest (cutest) smile I'd ever seen on him. That melted my heart...and little did I know, it was the best part of my day.

I get the kids home; make Preston lunch (Allison had eaten at Kelly's) and feed Mason. I called a friend from work to tell her what happened and then the other line rang; it was the school. I answered the line and it was the principal, Mrs. Lane. She wanted to discuss Preston's behavior from Friday. She said that she knew I got a note stating what happened, like throwing the lego table and chairs. Now, if you go back up and read what I typed, which is exactly what the note said, it said nothing about throwing tables and chairs. It said blocks and "many things". If Preston were throwing tables and chairs, the note should have said tables and chairs. That is a bigger issue than "many things". I told Mrs. Lane what my note said and also addressed the issue that Preston swears he didn't run into the parking lot. She said Mrs. A gave her another story, she said he was running by the church. So, right there, there are 3 different versions of what actually happened. Mrs. Lane proceeded that it is her responsibility to keep all the children safe, Preston included. With his behavior and actions, she doesn't believe that it is safe for anyone if Preston continue to come to their school. I told her that I agreed that she has to watch out for everyone's safety. I would be very upset if it were my son on the recieving end of the throwing/hitting/kicking. I told her about our visit with the counselor and what she said about Ms. Rebecca and also that Preston would be meeting with a counselor there in 2 weeks. Mrs Lane said that once he gets some counseling and the couselor either finds a way for the school to deal with him, or what they are doing wrong and the counselor says its safe for Preston to return, then he is welcome back. I told her that Preston wouldn't be back. We truly believe it is Ms. Rebecca and that we have been looking for somewhere else to send him. We didn't want him in that environment anymore. I asked Mrs. Lane, though, what was going on at the school that there are 3 different boys running out into the parking lot on different occassions. Why don't they have any control of these students? I asked Mrs. Lane why it was ok for Ms. Rebecca to treat Preston differently; she has for 2 years and pretty much made it clear that she didn't want him in her class anymore (at our meeting two weeks ago). Mrs. Lane didn't know how to respond. I told her I knew for a fact that there are 2 other boys acting very similar; I talk to both their moms on regular basis. I wanted to know why the kids are acting like this; what's going on at school. Again, she didn't have anything to say...just said to keep in touch and keep her updated on Prestons situation; yeah right.

Now, he goes to his counselor in two weeks. By then, he's going to have been out of school for 2 weeks, without this behavior, without the environment...what the heck is the counselor going to do for him? But, I am still taking him because I want to prove that it is not my son; it is the teacher. I spoke to both the other moms last night and they were shocked. No one could believe the way things happened. The school didn't even give us a chance to try to get the situation figured out or corrected. They just brought his problems & issues to our attention two weeks ago. We told them we would bring it up to the pediatrician at his already scheduled appointment a week later. Ms. Rebecca knew when the appointment was because the morning of the appointment, she gave me her letter to the doctor. That was Thursday. The pediatrician suggested we have him evaluated and gave me the number for Harbor. On Friday, I scheduled the evaluation for Monday, the very next business day. I couldn't have done things any quicker. It's not like we were being lazy parents and ignoring the situation, we were doing our best to get the issue addressed as soon as we could. I called Harbor after I spoke to Mrs. Lane yesterday to tell them that the school basically kicked him out until after he meets with the counselor and they were shocked....he had JUST been evaluated.

My God...really?? This is a Catholic school; we are supposed to be Christians; and they are not even willing to work with me? In their defense, this is a great school, and the parents involved are great...when your kid doesn't have an issue. Allison is thriving and loves school. I have loved both of her teachers since kindergarten. I just can't stand the pre-school teacher or the environment, and they treat the pre-school separately than the actual elementary school.

Ok, so I have lots of thoughts about this going through my head. I am going to write a letter to the principal today and address the issues of the different stories between my daily notes and what she's hearing. I think Ms. Rebecca is embellishing her stories to Mrs. Lane because she doesn't want Preston in her class anymore. I am also going to explain my disappointment in the way they treated this situation; didn't even give us a chance while we were diligently doing what we could to get things corrected, etc. I'll let you know where that gets me.

One final note, last night was Preston's first soccer practice. We decided to keep him in soccer because he's been punished enough, and I already paid for it. Plus, this will keep him in contact with his friends and classmates. So, we get to soccer, and guess who's there??? Ms. Rebecca..her daughter is on Preston's team this year. GREAT! I'm sure, before the end of the season, my husband will get into with her; he has a pretty bad temper and is very verbal when he doesn't like someone.

I'm going to go work on my letter when my thoughts are still fresh.

Tomorrow's post will be on my mother...which her phone call during all of this yesterday intensified my stress. Stay tuned....

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

You can head over to http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href= blog< a> to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I most certainly did NOT post an entire blog about doing laundry or my new washer & dryer. That would be silly and prove that I do not have a life. Not Me!


I also did NOT nurse my baby in public for the very first time. Of course, we were upstairs in an old car/booth at Pete's Garage and we were the only people up there...I didn't mention that no one could see me! Not Me!


I did NOT let my baby stay in a soiled diaper as he pooped while nursing then fell into a deep sleep. That would be horrible of me since I just wanted to get some sleep. Being the mom I am, I would most certainly wake him up to change him instead of just going back to sleep. I would never let a baby stay in a soiled diaper. Nope, Not Me!


And finally, I absolutely, did NOT chuckle when my five year old son was screaming bloody murder in anticipation of getting 5 shots. I did NOT find it amusing that it took my beefy husband and a nurse to hold him down while getting poked. Not Me! It was most certainly NOT funny that he didn't even feel them after all that!


Okay. I did it. Can you stand to be brutally honest? I promise you'll live to tell about it. If you'd like to join in this week and take a stab at winning the prizes, read this first, especially if you want to know where you can grab the orange Not Me! Monday button for your blog, how to participate and what the rules are.Oh, and if you'd like a foolproof way to put my link in your Not Me! post, simply copy everything in this white box below and paste it into your post.


Ok, now to leave you with a few pictures for the day.
Michele

Do you think the dog is jealous at all?

So happy to be playing in the basement again


Just being silly

He loves his baths now, since he's actually submerged in the water

Look at that belly!

He's thinking "What the heck are these kids doing to me?"

Look at his baby mohawk! HA!


She loves holding him!

Dirty Laundry

Well, I've been letting all my laundry pile up this week, refusing to wash a load. Why would I do this? You might ask...well, the answer is simple. I was waiting for my new washer and dryer to be delivered...and they finally came Friday morning!

We ended up purchasing the Whirlpool Duet front load washer & dryer. This was the one good thing about the basement flooding...thank goodness I added the Water & Sewer Back up coverage.

So, Saturday, I washed every last piece of clothing and towels that needed to be washed; 6 loads in all...and by golly, what a difference. Technology is so amazing. First of all, the washer & dryer have sensors in them, so I don't need to select a load size; it does it for me. I just load the clothes, select what type of wash and temperature of water and it does the rest. They even have timers on them to tell me how much time is left until the load is finished. My first load was 13 pairs of jeans. No problem fitting them into the washer and with one drying cycle they were all dry; not even a little damp. My old washer & dryer was nice, not really that old, and they were Whirlpools as well. However, I usually had to select the highest drying time and always had to run another drying cycle, especially for jeans, so it took me twice as long to do the laundry.

Today, I find myself washing everything else that I can, just to do it. My sheets & comforter are in the dryer and all the bathroom rugs and the dining room table cloth are in the washer as we speak. I plan on washing everyone's comforters and sheets today...and, to top it all off, I'm saving money. The washer uses half the water and is designed to spin the clothes so fast that they dry in half the time, using half the energy to do so.

Anyhow, just wanted to share my weekend...it's the little things in life that excite me.

We are still working on replacing other things from the basement, and getting it organized and set up once again. Until yesterday, everything was still piled into the middle; my kids have been dying to go down there, so last night, David and I went down there and put a big dent in things, so at least the kids can play down there again.

Let's see...what else. The kids do not have school tomorrow; teacher in-service day. However, we have an appointment to have Preston evaluated by a psychologist at 10:30 am at Harbor Behavioral Care. I'm not looking forward to this...I don't want them to tell me anything bad about my son; especially when he doesn't act like that when he's with us. I will post more about it after the appointment.

Michele

5 weeks

I can't believe that my baby is 5 weeks old already...boy time flies when you're not sleeping!

Mason and Preston both had check-ups today.

Preston finally had his 5 year check-up...I knew that we were switching to my insurance effective March 1st, so I waited to schedule his well-check until after the switch. My insurance covers up to $750 in wellness per person per year, which means that his appointment today will be covered at 100%, yay! Unfortunately, he had to have his finger poked and get 5 shots! Wow...what an appointment...he screamed bloody murder while they poked his finger and took that drop of blood. David and the nurse had to hold him down during the shots and he screamed until after the first one...since he couldn't really feel them, he was fine. He was laughing afterwards, but both him and the nurse were sweating...from all the fighting...the anxiety almost killed him. Other than that, we talked to the doctor about his behavior at school...and the concerns that the teacher has. The doctor suggested we have him evaluated by a psychologist. So, tomorrow, I have to call the insurance to see what is covered then make an appointment for an evaluation. We'll see.

Mason's appointment was much less stressful. He slept through most of it. He now weighs 11 pounds 4 1/2 ounces, which means that he gained over 2 pounds in the past 3 weeks. He is also now 22 1/2 inches long, which means that he grew 2 inches in 3 weeks. We couldn't believe it! We measured him 3 times to make sure. Wow...he's definitely getting enough to eat! HA!

Mason is starting to give me genuine (toothless) smiles, which I just love. He's also starting to find his voice. Mostly, he laughs and talks to the ceiling fan in the family room..it's so funny to watch; anytime he notices the fan, even when it's off, he smiles and talks. I have discovered if I talk in a very high-pitched voice and make a fool of myself for long enough, I can get him to grin at me...I'm still trying to catch them on film; I did manage to get one, see below.

So, that about sums up my day. I'll keep you posted on Preston. Oh, and Preston got 6 stars again at school today and also pooped on the potty, all by himself (with no one telling him to go) after dinner. YAY PRESTON!

Here are some photos of my 5 week old already!

Enjoy!
Michele

Mason, smiling at the ceiling fan

Talking to the fan

Got it...the first toothless smile on film!

I caught him looking at the camera!

SIX STARS!!

As my readers and friends know, Preston has been having a very difficult time at school lately. He started the school year out very well, then in November, started having some behavior problems. As the year has gone on, things have been getting worse.

Around January, Preston started behaving better, getting a total of 6 stars out of 6 stars a day. The past few weeks though, we have been lucky if Preston can get 1 or 2 starts per day. He's been throwing horrible temper tantrums, throwing things, showing lots of anger towards the teachers and his classmates, etc. As I had said in a few blogs back, we don't see this child at home; he's so good when he's home with us. However, when his behavior starts getting bad like this, he also has another problem; he starts pooping in his pants, this he does do at home also. He tries to stop himself, but does get it in his underwear. We have to yell at him to try to sit on the potty and poop, and after fighting with him for a few minutes, we can usually get him to sit on the potty, but usually by then he already has a stain in his underwear. We've had to give him a couple of enemas, because by trying to hold it in, he's stretching out his bowels and things are getting impacted. Ok, maybe too much information, but there's a point, I promise.

Preston hadn't had any potty issues for months, but since his behavior at school has deteriorated, he started going in his pants regularly. When we ask him why he's doing these things, he just says "because I'm bad". "Give me away"...etc.

While this breaks my heart, and I feel horrible, I do get really angry. I try to tell him that he's not bad, just making bad choices, etc., etc. I've tried over and over to pound it in his head that we love him no matter what but want to see him do better.

I have to admit it though...lately, with his behavior at school and the pooping in his pants constantly, I've been having a difficult time not showing my feelings towards him...I feel like I'm constantly yelling at him and just plain ignoring him because I don't know what to do with him. With the teachers' attitudes towards both Preston and I..and her comments to other teachers, like she's going to quit because of the days she's having with Preston (and a couple of other difficult boys) I'm just embarrassed to call him my son.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I absolutely love my children and would do anything for them. I love being a mom more than anything. So, don't judge me...but lately, like I said, Preston has just been horrible at school, but good at home..I've just had a really hard time dealing with it.

Anyhow, my point of this whole blog tonight is that today, Preston got 6 stars out of 6 stars again, and went poop on the potty all by himself, with no one telling him to go!! I can't even tell you how proud of him I was today. From the time I picked him up at school and he told me he got 6 stars, I have done everything I could to spend some one on one time with him and remind him how proud I am of him. It's almost like today, I fell in love with my oldest son all over again. He was a totally different kid when getting praised, instead of moping around telling me how sorry he was for being bad at school, etc. I know it's only one day, but, we have to take one day at a time, right? Maybe, just maybe, with the praises and attention he got from us today since he was so good, he will try as hard again tomorrow. Oh yeah, and he got his free pizza coupon from his book-it program at school today, so, since he was so good today, we took the kids to Pizza Hut so he could use his coupon; he was very excited.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I'll keep you update.

Michele

Sears Photo Shoot

Here they are; the Sears photos...not too bad. I just didn't realize how hard it was going to be to get 3 kids to cooperate. Not, to mention, color coordinated! Of course, Mason slept through most of it...they tried so hard to get him to open his eyes...she got one good one with his eyes open...some day I'll look back and wish I could get him to sleep this much!
Most of them we had just ripped out Mason's pacifier from his mouth...that's why he looks agitated. Ha!
Enjoy!

An attempt at catch-up

Ok, so it's been quite a while since I've posted...we've been busy and distracted by other things lately.

Where to begin?? Last week, our basement flooded AGAIN! This time, though, we had 8 inches of sewer water..not just rain water. The whole city's sewers were at capacity, so the sewage had to go somewhere. What a fricken mess. Yes, we had things organized and cleaned up this time, but we still lost twice as much stuff from the basement this time. On a good note, though, since it was water back-up, our insurance covered all the damage and I'm getting new appliances. We had water in our dryer, yes, IN our dryer. So, we have been shopping for a new washer, dryer and deep freezer...can't decide what to get as far as a washer and dryer. I want front loaders this time, on the tallest pedestals that I can buy, to avoid this happening in the future. We also lost more toys, but mostly stuff the kids haven't played with in quite a while, so no big tear-fest there. We lost our t.v. cabinet, my storage cabinet for the kids' toys, a book shelf, old curtains, candles and holders, oh, and my Atari..yes, I had an original Atari with about 20 games! What I'm most upset about is that I lost my Christmas tree, actually, our family tree and both the kids' trees for their rooms. Yes, I was paid very well by the insurance company for them, however, since it's mid March right now, I can't very well go out and buy a new Christmas tree right now...so I have to hope that I can put the money away and keep it safe until I can replace my tree. There was lots of other stuff, and yes, we were reimbursed well by Nationwide, but I'm not sure it's worth it. Most of the stuff, we're not replacing, but trying to be smart about what we to do with the money, what to replace, etc.

We had a plumber come out to see if our drain needed to be cleaned out or if there was anything we could do to prevent this again in the future. Turns out that our drain is fine, no clogs. But, what they did suggest was getting a check-valve installed. I guess it lets the water flow, but as soon as the back-up starts, the valve shuts and the water is prevented from coming up into our basement. They gave us an estimate of $1,900, but the good side of this, is that the City of Toledo is currently giving $2,000 grants to people that have been flooded to do the necessary corrections to prevent this from happening again, such as having a check-valve installed. So, I am waiting for my application from the city so I can apply for the grant, and waiting for plumber #2 on Tuesday to give me an estimate; since we need to send the application with 2 estimates.
We also had Service Master out at our house for 3 days last week, cleaning and getting rid of the things that they could not clean. They had fans down there for 3 days, drying the basement. Finally, it's sanitized and dry, however, everything that is left is piled in the middle of the basement...we haven't even attempted to go down there and reorganize. So, basically, last week was a waste...dealing with the cleaning company, the insurance company/adjuster, and dealing with losing more stuff, etc.

We didn't do much last weekend weekend; David finished the job he was doing last Thursday, and hasn't worked in a week. Looks like he might have a job to start next week; let's hope...we need for him to bring some side money home..this economy sucks so bad. He only has 5 or 6 weeks left of unemployment; so after that, I'm not sure what we'll do next. If he continues to get side jobs, we should be ok for awhile, but with not having a steady check every week, things will be tough.

Monday, we had an appointment with Preston's pre-school teacher, the principal and 3 of the counselors at school. As I may have mentioned, Preston has been acting up at school. He's always been a handful at school, and they put him back on a daily behavioral chart in November. Preston has the opportunity to earn 6 stars per day, at different times; Calendar time, snack time, Ms. Rebecca's work time, Mrs. Augustyniak's work time, lunch and gym. Usually Preston gets 4 or 5 a day, but he's a typical boy...lots of energy and not always the best listener. Well, for the past 2 weeks or so, Preston's behavior has apparently taken a turn for the worse. Now, when we sat down at this meeting and heard the things that Preston has been doing and the way he's been acting, David and I were in total shock. We were at a loss for words. Apparently, Preston has tons of anger built up; he's been throwing bad temper tantrums at school, but they never went into detail what he was doing during these tantrums. Apparently, he throws things, flips chairs over, kicks things, tells people he hates them, punches HIMSELF (as well as others) and so on...Preston does not act like this when he is with us. Preston does get tough to handle sometimes, but never has he acted like the exorcist child, as they made him out to be. Obviously, he knows his boundaries with mom and dad, but I have no idea why he's acting like this at school. They, of course, are blaming it all on the birth of Mason, but I'm not so sure, since he doesn't act half this bad at home. Is this normal? For him to be so upset at home, but let it out at school? Wouldn't we notice some of this attitude at home? He listens to us, he may get upset when we tell him to pick up his toys, but he does it..he doesn't kick or throw them, and he certainly does not tell us that he hates us. The counselors all observed him at different times, and each time, when he had an outburst, the counselor would take him aside and talk to him, and his attitude would change. I spoke up and said that it seems to me that he's asking for more one on one attention. Since he's getting it when he acts badly, he's thinking that negative attention is better than none at all. I know that the school meets the state guidelines, but I still think that having 24 students and only 2 teachers is too many. I told them that, too. At Allison's pre-school, the only ever had 8 or 9 students per teacher. I don't know what to do. He tells them at school that he's so mad, but won't tell anyone why he's so mad.

Tuesday, had some visitors from work, and went appliance shopping again. Nothing exciting happened.

So, Wednesday, we got a call from Preston's teacher; she sounded very upset and agitated. Turns out my son ran out of the school and into the parking lot..for no reason; they were not going outside, he just got mad for whatever reason and ran out into the parking lot. His teacher had to chase him and practically tackle him to catch him. I had David go to school and get him and we kept him home the rest of the week. We're not sure what his deal is lately. He doesn't act like this anywhere but school. Oh, and Allison's old pre-school doesn't have any full-time openings...so that is not an option. We are going to send him back to school this week to see how he acts...I had no incidents while he was home with me for 4 1/2 days.

Thursday, David, Preston, Mason and myself just hung out most of the day. I had some visitors from work stop by and an old friend who hadn't seen Mason yet. Oh, and Mason turned ONE MONTH old!!!

Friday, I decided to let Allison play hookie and stay home with us as well. David was gone most of the morning, helping his brother tear out someones kitchen. Allison and Preston drove me nuts all day; they are constantly asking for snacks...or asking if they can play on the computer then proceed to fight because Allison is trying to boss Preston around, as usual. We finally went Friday night and ordered a washer, dryer and deep freezer; they will be here by Friday at the latest, because no one carries a gas dryer in stock anymore, all electric these days. I'm very excited to get a new washer and dryer...maybe it will make the laundry more fun. Yeah right.

Saturday, Preston had his last hockey practice, of course, it wasn't a practice really, more a ceremony as the kids were "graduating" from the instructional play program. They can now play on a team in the league. So, Preston got another medal and a completion certificate. He is all for playing on a team now. He kept saying that he only wanted to play soccer, but now that his hockey is over, he's all for playing "real hockey" and doesn't care about soccer anymore. So, looks like we'll have tap dancing, soccer (at least for Allison) and hockey for spring...plus the new baby and me back to work. Can we say busy??

Today, Sunday, we didn't do too much. My sister stopped by for a little while and then David and I took the kids to get their pictures taken at Sears. I hadn't yet gotten Preston's 5 year picture taken and I usually get the kids' pictures taken every 6 months, but decided to wait until Mason was a month old to get them all done at once. I didn't really like the photographer; she was mostly focused on pictures of Mason since they were his first ones; she didn't get a lot of good shots at all, and only really one good one of all 3 kids. She didn't take any individual of Allison and only one of Preston with the 5. So, I'm going to share them (once I download them from Sears) but am really disappointed that I didn't get any individuals of the older kids. Allison wanted to get more taken, but at that point, I was tired and extremely hot; we had been there for 45 minutes trying to get one shot of Mason with his eyes open and Preston can't stay posed for very long. He kept looking down at Mason, so I was just irritated...maybe next time, sigh.
Well, this has turned out to be a very long post; sorry to bore you. I'll leave you with some photos. I have lots more to share; but will try to post more often in the upcoming week. Enjoy!

Michele

Mason loved his first walk to the park...can't you tell?

Preston "#27"

He just got his medal and was skating away.





My wonderful daughter taking care of Mason so David & I could eat dinner (she had already finished her dinner)

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, so not 100% wordless. For those of you who read my blog; thank you for the kind words...I don't want people to judge me, so most people think I simply had a miscarriage. It does help to write it down and have people support me even if they don't necessarily agree.

So, I decided to share more photos of my new little guy...to thank you for your support; I would have anyway...:)

Michele

I love this one of my two boys.

This one looks like Mason is smiling back at Preston.

This is how we spend a lot of evenings.

Look at those chicken legs!

I love this outfit from his cousin...those are the cutest overalls!

I do love to watch him sleep.

And, I LOVE those lips!

He did NOT like his first real bath!

And, as soon as I moved my hand, he peed all over me!

We did get through it, finally!