Halfway through August already?!!

Wow it's been a while and there are so many things that have happened and going on. Where to start and what to say? Well the girls are in school and Natalie has now started Kindergarten. She loves it and thinks she needs to go every single day of the week. She got dressed on Saturday, woke me up, then proceeded to tell me that I had to get her off to school. Ugh, so much for sleeping in right? I had to tell her that she goes every WEEK day and not everyday. She likes her teacher and is always coming home singing new songs. She gets to bring Bread and Butter to school tomorrow since the letter this week is "B". I thought I might throw in some "B"lack "B"erry Jam to go with it; I think it will make her more excited. Katija and Leah are continuing in school and doing well. I met with the IEP program people yesterday for Katija to discuss a more useful plan to deal with her learning disability. I really have to fight for her because a)I'm the only one that will and b) Because of the type of disability she has, she would slip through the cracks and go unnoticed or labeled as someone who "needs to apply herself". I think it went well and I'll be following up with them - if I'm known for anything, persistence would be one of them :). Leah is working on mastering her addition and subtraction tables, it helps Mom brush up on them too. I still can't believe she is reading!! She is doing very well with it, it is fun to watch her read. She just checked out a really neat book that is a pop up book on Dinosaurs. It is so detailed, I can only imagine how I would have felt at 7 seeing a book like that. She is determined to keep it as long as they will let her :). That is the 411 on school.

Eliza has decided that she wants to start talking - since her side kick is MIA half of the day. So instead she stays right by me asking me questions, telling me things, and talking in sentences I didn't know she had in her! I will look at her and think, "Where did you come up with that?". At dinner a few days ago I was telling Chad he has 5 little U of U fans. He didn't belive me and tried to prove it with Eliza - but she wouldn't budge. I said to her, "Eliza, do you like Utah or BYU?"; she said, "UTAH!". Chad then said something about her not getting any candy, I of course scolded him saying you can't bribe them to like BYU - that's cheating! Eliza then stood up on her chair at the dinner table and in her not so quiet voice says, "Caden, do you like Utah or BYU?" and with her arms held way above her head she yelled, "UTAH!!". I of course was laughing and a very proud Mom, while Chad was left shaking his head saying they were traitors :). The following night at the store she said she wanted, "Utah Jammies"; I told her they didn't have Utah Jammies. She said, "Well, you have to find them"; I told her I didn't see them in the store and we would have to look another time. As we were passing another isle she said, "See, go that way and look for jammies". Even with her determination we didn't find any, but she still talks about it. She is Caden's buddy and is very helpful now that she is the "big" sister, she takes it very seriously. She follows Caden around and makes sure he isn't touching things, but he has learned she does NOT like her hair touched/pulled. He doesn't even do it hard, it is done for the scream he can get out of her - although they do play together and she can get some really fun laughs out of him.

Caden is now walking, talking, off the bottle, and really turning into a boy over night. He went in for his year appt and is doing so well. Since we got him every time we take him in for his well-baby visits the height/weight ratio gets closer and he gets taller. He started 25% - Height, 75% - Weight @ 6 months; then it was 75% - H, 80% - W @ 9 months. At his year check up he was 85% - H and 65% - W; he is getting so big and is now in 2T clothing. He started "really" walking on Sunday and is progressing further everyday. He keeps adding words and even actions too - he waves bye bye, claps his hands when you say "Yay", lifts his hands in the air when you say "Tada", sways back and forth when you say dance or he hears music, blows on his food if it is hot (or copies you if you are doing it). He'll slap or hit whatever it is you said, "No touching" to, just fast enough to see your reaction; and has a look he gives you when he gets in trouble or you tell him no, he also comes up to you and lays his head on you and says, "Aww" to give you "loves", he tries to blow on a whistle and can now use a straw. He is so funny and keeps us laughing - I do try not to let him see me laughing when he is being naughty, but it is more funny than destructive - you have to be able to laugh to be a Mom. His words are now Dada, Mama (he says it now - but not on demand), Leah, Kati (Kaw-tee, for Katija), Nana (for Natalie), No No, Uh Oh, Ickkk, What's that, What is it?, Ahhhhh (especially when I am putting lotion on him), Huh?, and he'll blow when I'm putting hairspray in his hair (mimicking the sound it makes).

Chad is busy with work and I don't think that will ever change. There is never a lack of crime that is for sure, so I see that continuing. He hasn't come out and said it, but having a part of his wife/old life back has helped him decompress. The laundry/dishes/straightening fairy is returning - I can't complain, I like having her back too :). Caden definitely keeps him laughing and it is neat to see both their faces light up when they see each other when he gets home.

As for me I'm feeling better, but it comes and goes. I will be doing well and then have a kind of set back day. I have to change my way of thinking and deal with it all day by day. If it is a tired/hot day, I have to let it happen and do what I can without over doing it. It's hard when you are feeling well to not go overboard with all the things you should/could/want to do - I have to focus on one thing and then gradually add another. I've been focusing on laundry since it's been Oct 06 since I've felt well enough to get to the bottom of a basket - this makes for A LOT of catch up. If I managed even one I couldn't keep it up for more than a few days. It has now been about 2 wks and there are many empty baskets :)- I knew I had a short sleeve black shirt...now I know where it is! The girls keep saying, "I'm tired of putting laundry away"; I simply say, "Do you want to wash and dry it instead?" - they quickly get to putting the clothes away. I had about 5 days where I didn't feel hot and managed to amazingly enough... NOT sweat through my clothes!! It was SO nice and aided to the realization of how horrible this has made me feel. It makes me feel so tired, dizzy, nauseated, mentally my brain wouldn't turn off about all the things I needed to do - but physically I couldn't do anything about it, and doing the simplest of things made me short of breath in such a short period of time. When I over heat I have to sit down before I pass out or fall over from the disorientation from the shaking and fast heart rate. This made all the things I started short lived. I appreciate the days I can taste "normal" and look forward to them staying around. I will hopefully hear back from my ENDO this week and have a blood test done to check my levels - then I can start any needed Rx, this should help regulate my body and help me feel better. I appreciate all the prayers and help sent our way - know we pray for all of you - you're not forgotten (even when I don't keep the best contact at times).