Crosby is a preschooler...(and other late-week happenings)!!

Well, he did it.  Crosby made it off to his first day of preschool and survived without mommy.  :)  Yesterday he spent 45 minutes getting to know the classroom while the moms and dads attended an informational session.  When I walked out of the classroom (to leave him for the 45 mins), he was crying.  I got the report that the tears stopped shortly after and he was ok, but he BURST into tears as soon as he saw me come back into the room.  I was hopeful that today would be a little smoother b/c the cord would be cut at car-line drop-off.  He had a quivery lip but overall stayed strong.  It helped that Oliver's asst teacher from LY was the one to get him out of the car.  Got to speak with his teacher at car-line p/u and she said that overall his day was good.  Shockingly, he didn't want to join the class for snack (he's our eater!) but she said that it's not uncommon for the kids to pick and choose what activities they participate in for the first few weeks.  When Carter's caregiver asked him how his day was, he said, "I cried for mommy".  She said, "what else did you do?" and he said, "I cried for mommy".  Glad to have the first day in the books.  Now we wait 5 days until day 2 (he attends Th/F).  On a side note, he is doing great with his potty training (thanks to Carter's training!).  I told his teacher that we'll try sending him in underwear in about a month, once he's settled it.  Here is a photo of Crosby this morning.  Oliver told me that he hoped that he'd see Crosby and if he was sad, he would try to cheer him up and have his friends help too...He can be so sweet.

Carter is also getting used to his potty routine.  He still puts up a bit of a stink when the timer goes off (EVERY 15 minutes!!) but he knows what he has to do and has had fewer accidents this week (only one this afternoon).  The biggest challenge is that he always has to go since his entire diet is liquid.  This is something else that we are getting ready to tackle.  The other challenge will be getting him to tell us when he has to go, so that we don't have to sit him on there every 15 minutes.  School has been super supportive of his training and is also sticking to a strict schedule for him to keep the consistency.

Oliver had his first playdate without me after school today.  His buddy, Logan, turned 4 earlier this week so he headed over for lunch, cupcakes and play with Logan and 3 other friends (all new to Oliver).  Logan's mom brought him home for me and said he did great.  These boys are really growing up!

Busy weekend ahead (as always!)!  More soon...

Kindergarten!

Lot has happened in the last 9 days since I posted, the highlight of which, was Carter starting kindergarten.  I still can't believe that I have a kindergartener!  Luckily for all of us (mostly Carter) it was a super easy transition since he's still at the school that he attended for all three years of preschool.  It was literally a move the next classroom over.  He knows a couple of his classmates and has the same OT and speech therapists.  Familiarity is good for him so this set all of our minds at ease.  The highlight of his school experience is riding the bus.  :)  Here is a photo of Carter on his first day of preschool, back in 2010, when he couldn't walk independently, and relied on his reverse walker to get around.

And here he is on the first day of kindergarten on September 3rd, 2013.

Oliver started his first day of 4's preschool on Tuesday of this week.  He was SO excited (as you can see).  He is attending 5 mornings per week and staying until 1:30pm for lunch bunch M-W.  His buddy John's mom is nice enough to bring him home for me on lunch bunch days since his brother are (usually) sleeping. 

Oliver also started soccer this week.  We were kind of bummed to find out that all of his games are at 1pm on Saturdays since he does still nap most days, but he really enjoyed week 1.  Hope it continues to go well.  It was a little chaotic on the field with the kids all bumping into each other while they were learning a variety of skills...

Crosby is starting to enjoy his three mornings a week of mommy time, now that school has started. He has a tumbling class on Tuesday mornings and swimming on Wednesday mornings. Tomorrow is the big day for him.  He has 45 minutes of "get-to-know-the-classroom" time then Friday I cut the cord.  I'm hopeful that he'll love it and things will go well for him.  I look forward to being super productive in my ~6 hours/week of kid-free morning time.  :)

More pics to come after Crosby starts school...

Time flies...

Time truly is flying.  I often think about the quote, "the days are long but the years are short".  I've had more than one mom of older children tell me this (these are the same moms who have told me for years that they have no recollection of the early years of their kids lives.  At the time I thought, they are CRAZY, but sadly, I've joined them).  I do know that time flies like crazy but I still have trouble believing that it's already Sept.  It really hit me when I FINALLY logged back on to write this post and I see that my last one was almost TWO YEARS AGO.  Just.  Plain.  Crazy. 

SO much has happened in the last two years and I truly kick myself all of the time when I think about how I *should* have been keeping a blog since Carter was born, or at least diagnosed (not only would I remember specifics, I'd remember big things that have truly skipped my mind).  I am so bummed that I haven't taken the time to write at least once per week but life is just so crazy busy.  I'm promising myself to be better, starting now. 

We've had a great, whirlwind summer.  We took a trip to Lancaster, PA right when school got out.  The boys had a blast and we were lucky to have my mom join us for our 3-night adventure (Carter may have had the most fun of all of the boys as it took him a full 3 weeks to stop asking to go "back to the hotel").  July saw a trip from my MIL and a visit over the 4th from my SIL and her family who were en route to their beach vaca.  August brought our annual beach trip - 18 of us in one house in Emerald Isle, NC.  Doug thinks I'm crazy but it truly was the best beach trip we've taken, even including those before we had kids of our own (and this was year 7!).  We actually had a chance to relax a bit, thanks to being able to bring Carter's caregiver along (a godsend) and the cousins being at a helpful/fun/playful age for our boys.  A great time was truly had by all.

Now it's September and Carter starts kindergarten on Tuesday.  This REALLY makes me think about how fast time truly flies by.  I had a lot of mixed emotions at the end of last week as I walked in to our elementary school with many neighborhood friends whose children will also start kindergarten on Tuesday.  We walked the same hallway but I went right into room 3, the autism classroom, as they went left to the "regular" classroom.  :-/  Carter will have 30 minutes of inclusion in the "regular" classroom with an aide each day, but it's still hard as this was never the route we pictured.  I am thankful that he's in a familiar school with familiar therapists this year and one room over from his preschool class last year b/c change is hard.  I still had that pang of sadness though, as I felt like Carter *should* be following his peers across the hall.  This being said, I'm SO thankful for my gang of "special" moms that understand what I'm feeling.  Seriously, if one more person tells me that I *should* be happy for all that Carter is doing and how far he's come, I might punch them in the face (and I'm not a violent person).  Of course I'm thrilled with all he's doing but it doesn't make that hallway turn any less painful.  I do look forward to our school-year routine (as this is really best for Carter).  He'll start out with the 4-hour day that he has followed through his 3 years of preschool as he's still currently napping.  At any time that we decide, he can switch to a full day (6 hours).  His class currently has 6 students - 4 2nd-graders, 1 1st-grader and Carter as the lone kindergartener (4 of the 6 students are returning from LY).  There are two openings but we are all hopeful that they won't get filled any time soon.

That's it for now...More after Carter's 1st day as we prep for Oliver and Crosby's first days on the 10th and 13th.  :)  This momma is going to have SIX hours per week to herself!!!

A wonderful fall weekend!!

It's Sunday night and Doug and I are exhausted after a fun-filled weekend!  Hopefully the boys enjoyed it as much as we did!!  Yesterday morning the boys had their regular Saturday morning activities, Marta took Carter to swim class and Doug took Oliver to soccer.  After naps, we hit the road to Berryville, a cute little town, about 35 miles west of us.  I had purchased a Groupon for apple picking at a farm out there.  It was a 45 minute drive and we arrived right after 4.  The woman told us that the only apples left for picking were pink lady.  We headed out to the orchard, only to find that the only pink ladies were WAAAY to high up to reach.  We bagged that idea and headed to the corn maze.  They estimate that it takes about an hour to get through it, but Doug, as if in training for The Amazing Race, got us through in just 20 minutes.  I still think it was the promise of ice cream back at the restaurant at the farm that pushed him through.  :)  I don't think that the boys really knew what to make of the maze, they just trucked along...

After the maze, we headed back to the store/restaurant for apple and pumpkin frozen yogurt.  Oliver enjoyed his!  He ate the whole thing!!

Today was the open house at the Ashburn Fire Station.  We got there early since it was from 12-3 and we wanted to ride on the fire trucks before naps.  Once again, we rode inside the truck.  There wasn't a peep from either of the boys...They were entranced!

After naps we played outside for a while, Oliver played basketball and rode his new scooter, a bday gift from Mimi.  Carter threw rocks in the firepit, his favorite outdoor past-time, and Crosby lounged with Cooper on the couch on the deck, Cooper's favorite past-time.  :) 

Later, we ran to a nursery about 5 minutes from our house to get potted mums for the front steps of the house.  We also wanted to get our pumpkins that will turn into our jack-o-lanterns in a few short weeks.  The bonus of the nursery is that they had a slide and a moonbounce, which Oliver LOVED.  We will be heading back there at least one more time this month.

By the time we took this picture, Oliver couldn't WAIT to get back into the moonbounce, after being forced to ride in the wagon and "help" pick out pumpkins...

Another weekend in the books, and what an amazing one it was!  So much to get done in the next 3 days before we leave for Vegas on Thursday...

Fun times at the farm!

Plans changed a bit for yesterday afternoon.  Marta and I decided to take the kids to Ticonderoga Farms in Chantilly.  It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside and the boys had a BLAST!!  There were slides, even Carter went down one twice, and a hay ride where we got to choose our own pumpkin, and lots of room for running around.  Carter's favorite part was watching the older kids chase the chickens around and he even ran a bit himself!  Oliver probably loved the slides the best but the hayride was a close second.  He's becoming a bit of a daredevil!  We will try to get back there one more afternoon before Halloween.  They have a weekday afternoon special, $5pp, from 3-6pm.

The best part for me was when we drove up and I realized that we had been there before but I'd forgotten the name...October 10th, 2009, Oliver was 3 weeks old.  I remember leaving there bummed out b/c Carter wasn't walking and he wasn't able to have as much fun as I "thought" he should.  Well, I'm happy to report that he made up for it this time!!  I'm reminded of all of the progress that he's made, we are so blessed.  :)

Here we are almost 2 years ago to the day, hard to believe that those are Oliver's little feet peeking out of the Ergo...

Here's Doug hiding behind Carter b/c we didn't trust that he was strong enough to sit up on the hay bale by himself...

And here are the boys yesterday...It was Crosby AND Marta's 1st hayride!  And they were both pretty happy!  :)

Carter, my poser, on the hayride

The tractor, named for Oliver, which is SO fitting since he LOVES tractors!

Oliver coming out of his favorite slide

Oliver crossing the shaky bridge...

And the boys loving the chickens.  :)

Time is FLYING!!

I can't believe that it's been over two weeks since I've posted!  We've been busy, busy, busy!  Here's a recap...

Oliver had his 2-year appt at the pediatrician.  He's 27lbs, 6oz (50th percentile) and 35" (90th percentile).  He was a good boy, bribing him with a lollipop helped!  He had to get one shot and the nasal mist flu vaccination. 

My mom arrived on 9/22 to celebrate Oliver's birthday.  She's lost a total of just over 50lbs since beginning her diet approx. 2 weeks before Crosby was born.  I can't even begin to say how proud I am of her.  She didn't cheat ONCE and her hard work has certainly paid off!! 

Oliver's construction truck birthday party was a huge success.  September was an awful month for rain and it did rain the morning of the party but luckily, the rain held off for the rest of the day and we were even able to be outside for a good portion of the party.  That was a treat b/c we were really feeling like prisoners with all of the rain we've had.  Oliver got some great gifts and we had more delicious and gorgeously decorated cupcakes courtesy of Donna of Cake Bliss.  :)  My mom and I (and Marta) tried making cake pops for the first time.  They came out pretty good!  There were supposed to be orange ones too but the orange melties just weren't the right consistency for dipping.  I didn't take a whole lot of pics at the party but my uncle did so I'm hoping to get some from him soon...Here are the cupcakes and the cake pops and the best pic I could snap of Oliver, drinking out of his "cone" cup...

Carter's been doing really well at school and private therapy.  On Thursdays, he has 3 hours of back-to-back therapy - ST, PT and OT.  It kicks his butt.  So much so that today at lunch, he fell asleep.  THAT was a first.  :)  Carter had an AMAZING session at horseback riding on Monday.  His therapist, Catherine, sent me this email (Marta takes him to ride):

Dear Lisa,

Carter was phenomenal yesterday!
Walked in confidently, saying he was coming to ride Peppermint. Stood waiting as I put the helmet on. Then did not use my hand to walk into the sand arena, walked straight to Pep through the deep sand. I asked him if he was ready to get up on Pep, to which he answered right away: yes. I put him on Pep, and he sat right up saying, "Let's go see the lights!. As you know, he has been fascinated by the windows(the lights) in the big arena, and now considers Pep his vehicle to go "see the lights".
He sang and told Pep where to go the whole time, not one "all done" the whole session. So I decided to try changing positions by turning him backwards. He was a little apprehensive but trusted me to turn him on the horse, and sat right back up when he was backward, singing and asking Pep to go see the lights again. When turned back to his original position, the same small apprehension, but an amazing willingness to try something so new and potentially scary, trusting me implicitly.
When we got off the horse, he said a confident thank you to everybody and walked out of the arena.
It is a real pleasure to see him turn into a confident young man!


Oliver's doing better at school.  Today he didn't cry at all when I picked him up, that is a BIG deal!  He had a field trip to the pumpkin patch at Great Country Farms on Tuesday.  It was a fun time but it was SO muddy b/c of all of the rain that we've had.  Shortly after we arrived, the guides were telling us about apples and all the varieties and then the kids were invited up to get an apple to enjoy.  Oliver LOVES apples.  The bees at the farm also love apples.  We were all gathered around, listening to the instructions on feeding the goats and sheep when Oliver started to act funny.  He was wiping at his face and it seemed to take him a long time to swallow his bite of apple.  I asked him to spit out what was in his mouth and my hunch was confirmed.  He had "eaten" a bee that was on his apple, he spit it out but it had stung him.  The poor kid was such a trooper.  He never cried.   It was his 1st sting but luckily we found out that he's not allergic.  I took him to the ped yesterday b/c his eye almost looked like it was going back and blue but he got a clean bill of health and with her light we could see where the bee got him, inside his lip on the upper left side.  Here is a pic when the swelling was at it's peak.

Crosby is...Crosby.  He's eating like a horse and still getting up in the night.  He wants to stand ALL of the time.  He is such a monkey.  He wants to be around his brothers all of the time.  They constantly make him laugh.  We had a dance party in Oliver's room tonight after baths and Crosby was cracking up watching the boys dance.  It won't be long before he's up there, dancing with them!

A couple of weeks ago, we had professional pics taken of the boys.  We got a "sneak peek" tonight and they came out amazing!  I was leery about going with anyone else b/c Bev has been our photographer since I was pregnant with Carter but since she's not currently taking pics, we had to go elsewhere.  She suggested Stephanie with The Hip Studio and she didn't lead us astray.  I am THRILLED with the pics!  Here is a link to the blog-post on Stephanie's website - http://thehipstudio.com/children/brothers-ashburn-virginia-child-photographer/

That's about it from here...Tomorrow Marta and I are taking the boys apple picking.  I bought a Groupon that's good thru this month and with the amazing weather forecast this weekend, I want to get out tomorrow before things get picked over this weekend...Pics to follow.  :)

Sleep training...It's hard but it works!!

It's been exactly a week since Amy came over to sleep train baby Crosby and my life has improved a lot in the past week.  Things still aren't where I want them to be but we are well on our way...

When Amy arrived last Tuesday, Crosby had to be rocked to sleep for every nap and every night at bedtime.  Many times we would THINK he was asleep, only to get downstairs and have to race back up to console him and rock him back to sleep.  I knew it was a problem but it's SOOOO hard to listen to your baby cry for an extended period of time.  Crosby was also waking up 4-5x/night and I was breastfeeding him each and every time.  I knew that he wasn't that hungry but that it was a bad habit that I wasn't ready to break b/c I was SO tired that it was easier for me to jump up and feed him, knowing that he'd eat and go right back to sleep and then I could too.

The only perk that I can see so far of having a main-floor master with little kids is that if you want to be away from their crying at night, it's a good place to sleep.  So Tuesday and Wednesday night, Doug and I slept in our master bedroom for the first time in YEARS!  We literally haven't slept in there since before Carter moved to his crib, over 3.5 years ago!!  Amy got up with Crosby and we slept (I only heard him once in two nights!).  In just a few short days, Crosby is now putting himself to sleep for naps and bedtime, sometimes with no crying at all, sometimes 5 or so minutes and is getting up twice per night.  I am only feeding him once per night and hoping that he'll soon only wake up once and soon after not at all...The challenge has been trying to get him to eat more during the day, which is hard b/c if he's not hungry, there's not making him eat.

Crosby is definitely a much happier baby with better nighttime sleep.  I really feel like he grew up, just this weekend.  He is so alert and playful and he is happy to play on his own and roll around the floor for up to 45 minutes...My baby is growing up, FAST!!