Mackenzie and School, Part 2

Mackenzie had therapy on Thursday. It was much easier than it was on Tuesday. This class was Mackenzie and 2 other kids that were all right about the same age. We had fewer break downs. She really only threw a fit when I was trying to keep her from spilling her smoothie they made. She was the slowest kid to finish so we moved her away from the table. We didn't have any spills though.

She did some swinging with both kids, although I don't have a picture of her on it.

The day was all about balance and their equilibrium. Swinging then getting up walking, dancing with Mom in a circle then focusing on a stuffed animal. And of course there was singing songs and doing had motions with the songs. They each helped make smoothies; added some chocolate milk, strawberries and a banana. She absolutely loved it!

Stirring her smoothie, even though it didn't need to be stirred :)

All in all, she had a great day. I think she had a lot of fun playing with the other 2 kids that were there! I'm hoping Tuesday is a little better this week with all of the kids. They may, however, split that one up so it's not so overwhelming for everyone. One more try tomorrow, then we'll find out. This Thursday, the teachers come to our house so that'll be a new experience as well.

Cameron watched the whole time, he was such a good boy. All the focus was on his sister, and he didn't mind too much!

Good job Mackenzie, making some friends and slowly learning how to share! Good job Cameron, for being a good baby!

Buddys Boo Boo Part 2

I took Buddy to the vet a couple weeks ago to have the cut on his back checked out. When we went to the vet, they weighed him. He weighs 70 lbs now. He has gained 4 lbs since his check up in March. We went into the exam room and had to muzzle him for the first time. He didn't like anyone to touch his cut and he gets scared while at the vet. He has never bitten anyone, but I didn't want to take the chance. Anyways, we seen that he had an infection in his cut. They cleaned it with iodine, put some numbing powder on it and gave us a weeks worth of antibiotic. I was not overly confident that it would heal. We used the numbing powder at least once a day and finished the medicine. About a week later, his cut was completely healed. All that needs to happen now, grow some fur back :)

Mackenzie and School

Yesterday was Mackenzie's first day of therapy, but we're calling it school. It's really just like and hour and a half of school except that parents are there the whole time.

Tuesday starts at 10:30. When we first get there, they have table time. They play with puzzles and all kinds of toys from 10:30 to 10:45. 10:45 until 11 they have hello circle where they play and dance and have kids songs play. 11-11:10 the have group activity. Yesterday it was music time. They sang the itsy bitsy spider with the hand movements and a couple other songs. I could tell you what they were, but I have a very stubborn daughter who likes to do her own thing. She was reading and playing with other toys :) 11:10-11:20 they have snack and story time. 11:20-11:45 they have center play. It's really sensory play. This week the art center was hand prints with finger paint! That was the first time Mackenzie painted and she loved it. She wanted to keep doing it! She also played with Playdoh, which was the first time for that too. The last thing she played with was Mr. Potato Head. Although she didn't know what to do with it! Finally, 11:45-12 is goodbye circle where they read another story and sing the good-bye song. They sing to every kid in the class individually. When we got to Mackenzie, she was still in the middle of playing (go figure, no sitting down singing for her) and she just looked at everyone like "how do you know my name, I don't know you guys." It was quite funny. By the time we got out it was lunch and nap time. She was so exhausted.

They even do things like you would in school. Papers got sent home. They have a different theme every month. This month is "All about me." They also have projects. We have to bring pictures with us to school in 2 weeks because they are making photo books. We need pictures of her playing with toys, with family, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, eating some favorite foods. All kinds of things that she does every day. They say having a book like this is a good way to get children talking and using words that are a part of everyday life. I've never heard of that, but if it works, great! If not, it'll still be cool for her to have something like that. And I'm such a geeky mom, I can't wait to get her dry hand prints back next week and hang it on the refrigerator. It's her first art project!

All in all, I think it went pretty well for the first time. Mackenzie is one of the youngest in there and the oldest are a set of twins who will be 3 next month. There's obviously not a lot of sharing going on, so that led to some fights with other kids and a lot of crying from Mackenzie. Once she learns a bit better about sharing, and she gets more used to it, there should be fewer break downs. She does, however, love the 2 "teachers" in her class. She was able to meet them a couple times when they came to our house to evaluate her. She sat on both of their laps a couple times, which is not normal for her. I am very proud of her.

Tomorrow is her second day with a smaller group of kids. I'm hoping that one will be a little easier on her since there won't be as must stimulation.

Great job Mackenzie!!!

On The Edge!

Yesterday morning Marty signed loan papers for a new car for me!!! Yay! I'm way excited. I got a 2010 Ford Edge, tuxedo black metallic!!! It's so pretty.

When we dropped the kids off at dad's house on Saturday and decided not to go golfing due to rain, I was going to drip Marty off and home and do the shopping that I had planned. On the way home Marty said, "Pull into the Ford dealership." Ok, we do this pretty often just to look. We pulled in and looked at an Edge. I told the sales man, "We're not buying anything today. Just looking, thanks!"

By the time we left that day, they had me test driving the Edge for the weekend. Of course, they knew I would fall in love with it. I did, and I totally thought there was no way we would get it. We owed way too much on my G6 we got 2 years ago. We've just grown out of it with 2 kids and all of their stuff. The Edge is perfect, everything fits!

They worked all day Monday and planned on having us come in Tuesday. They worked a little more Tuesday, and when Marty picked us up from Mackenzie's school in my new car! I wasn't totally sure that it would be mine when he dropped us off. But it's mine now and perfect for our family!

Tons of room for those babies

I'm so excited!!!

Labor Day Weekend

Our labor day weekend started off just like every other weekend! Nothing special. Friday the kids and I were in the area so we stopped by my dads for a few minutes. Dad is getting a new truck! He's wanted on since Courtney was born. They also went to Courtney's new apartment and had dinner in Jackson. After stopping at dads, the kids and I came home and spent the night just hanging out.

Saturday Marty got home!!! We were up a bit earlier than usual. Marty, the kids and I went to IHOP for brunch. It was very yummy I think. Then the kids spent a couple hours at Marty's mom, Grandma Shelly's house while we went a I upgraded my phone!!! So excited, I now have an iPhone 4! It's so much faster than my 3G. We also took a trip to the mall so I could get a cheaper case for my phone and we could get Marty's brother a birthday card. Every time we go to the mall, Marty and I have to check out what they have in Spencer's. I couldn't believe it, we found a Barney blanket for Mackenzie. I have been looking for material to make her a Barney blanket with absolutely no luck. I would have never thought to look in Spencer's. Once we were done, we picked up the kids and came home. I had planned on making stuffed peppers for dinner. I got the peppers put together and covered and we got on our way to Courtney's new apartment!

 Marty driving to Courtney's

Mackenzie on our way to Courtney's. She was exhausted, only napped for about 45 minutes. Hence, she cried for about 25 minutes, continuously, on our way there.

Once we arrived at Ney-ney's, I popped the peppers in the oven, 45 minutes later, dinner was ready. I hadn't made the peppers for probably 2 years and I forgot how much I liked them! Which reminds me, I have to get her the recipe. After dinner, Mackenzie made a mess!

 Playing with Aunt Ney-ney's pillows. They also made a fort but I didn't get a picture of that :(

Puffs all over the table

Even if it is messy, her apartment is totally adorable.

After dinner we all just visited and Mackenzie, of course, played.

 Cameron gets his dinner now

 Ney-ney!

 Too much excitement for this little guy

 She was so tired...

...but she kept playing so she wouldn't fall asleep!

We left pretty late, and thank goodness, both kids slept on the way home!

On our way home

Sunday, we didn't do much. Marty's mom came over for a few hours. Marty changed the oil in everyone's car. We had a nice lunch that was supposed to be on the grill, until we ran out of gas. Our brats had to be finished cooking on the stove. Oh well, they were still yummy :) For the rest of the day the kids, Marty and I just spent some quality time at home. That doesn't happen very often around here.

Labor day, there was a gathering of car guys at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven. Grandma Shelly watched the kids again for a few hours so Marty and I could check that out. It was pretty cool. For a girl, who doesn't know a lot about cars, and doesn't really care too much about them, it just ends up being time spent with Marty without the kids. Marty, however, loves cars and everything about them, so he enjoyed himself immensely. After Gingerman, we picked up the kids and headed to Papa and Grandma's for Labor day dinner. Dad made BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, and baked beans. (I think he probably just cooked the meat like usual, and Carol did the rest in the kitchen.) Not positive though :) No matter who cooked it, it was very yummy. That's only to be expected of course. It was Mackenzie's first time to have ribs and she loved them. We arrived back home about 7:30 and relaxed until bed. 

It was a great weekend and Marty didn't have to work any of it, which made it 10x better!

Happy Labor Day!!!

Oh, and today I got a call from Early On about Mackenzie's therapy. She starts Tuesday, 2 times a week. Every Tuesday she's in a therapy playgroup at Washington St. Elementary just down the road. Every other Thursday she is also in a smaller playgroup at the school, and the other Thursdays, they come to our house for 1-on-1 therapy. I'm so excited for her. I think she would be excited as well, if she knew what I was talking about! :)

Buddy's Boo-boo

Buddy is our almost 4 year old red pit bull. He was born 3 days before Marty and I were married, on Thanksgiving. When  Buddy was 5 weeks old we brought him home with us :)

He was just so tiny! What a little ball of joy!

Anyways, as he got older, he got bigger and stronger and tougher.

But he's still just his goofy self. When we leave him at home, we kennel him for his safety and the safety of our things. He has broken out a couple times and everything was fine except the kennel. We fixed the kennel. The last time he got out, he cut himself up and had blood all over, but amazingly enough, he was pretty much ok. A scrape on his face and cut his gums. He couldn't chew on raw hides for about a week either. So last weekend we left him in his kennel. He didn't get out but he cut himself a good one. To tell you the truth I didn't see it until almost bed time that night. It didn't look like it would be a problem. It's on his back, and he scratches.

Now it looks like this...

He keeps scratching it, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It looks really gross in person. So he has a doctor appointment tomorrow morning so we can get it cleaned up. It just won't heal with him scratching it everyday. Yucky!

Poor Buddy :(

Kiddo's

I had the plan meeting with the Early On team! Mackenzie is 10 months behind with her speech, with the speech of an 11 month old. So, we will be taking her to speech therapy at one of the elementary schools here in town. Just around the corner so that will be good.

She will spend 1-2 hours each week at the therapy group, where she will get to meet some of her peers. That will be good, we don't know kids her age except 2 cousins who don't live close at all. They will also teach her baby sign language and incorporate words at the same time. It was explained to me that, "if she could talk, she would talk." So until she's able to talk, we will be using sign language, and once she begins talking, sign will go to the wayside. That works for me, any way of her communicating is better than nothing, she gets so frustrated sometimes. That should start either next week or the week after. I can't wait!

On the flip side, Cameron is one big, healthy boy. He had his 4 month check up last Thursday. He weighs 15 lbs, 8 oz and is 26.5 inches. He's going to be taller than his sister in no time. He's only 8 lbs lighter and 4 inches shorter than her now. Cameron also rolls from his back to his tummy and to his back again. He can lift up onto his elbows, not his hands yet. He can also get onto his knees, just not at the same times as his elbows. That will come with time, but I think it'll be sooner than Mackenzie did. We will see!

Happy learning and growing!!!