Happy Day!

So the last little while I have really been concerned about Sarah! But I just didn't know what to do for her. A few months ago I just was talking to my Mom and Sister about Sarah and I knew there wasn't something right about her developing with her communication, her oral fixations, she wasn't progressing like I thought she should. Around three is when Jonathan started taking off and getting caught up, which it is hard to say if it was just Jonathan was finally ready to start talking and learning more or if it was the Montessori school we put him in. Well, I have brought my concerns up with my Dr before, but he never seemed to be concerned (and when she was in PEEP she was tested out of speech cause they said she was improving- I was very upset and frustrated cause I knew she still had a long way to go!) With that said PEEP wanted to see if I wanted Sarah tested for the special needs preschool in the district. But I declined since PEEP tested her out of speech therapy and that is what I felt like she needed help with. So finally about three months ago I asked my Dr straight out for a speech eval (he is always willing to do what you ask him, but I have to have the ideas of what to do). He said sure. Well I finally got her tested in June and the lady was so great with Sarah. Without scoring her results she said she DEFIANTLY needed therapy. Well, I finally felt some validation that I knew what I was feeling was right. Well, she encouraged me to have her tested for preschool through the district. I told her my experience with Jonathan and how I had my reservations about it. She understood cause she also worked part time for another school district. So I went ahead to try to get her tested, but since it was summer there wasn't much testing going on. So in the mean time she also said that I should make sure her hearing was okay. So with both of these things I had to really fight to get these things rolling. Well, her hearing was okay, which is a relief cause I have problems with my hearing. There was a class that was being held back in July about Sensory Integration Disorder in the stake. I have read learned about this a little but I thought that it was not exactly Sarah. Well, I went to the class cause I felt like I should. I learned that there are degrees of this disorder and that Sarah has a mild cause of it and with increased sensory input into Sarah life she can work through these issue. But I learned that I have to work on her sensory issues before I can work on her behavior or even her learning. And I believe this is one of the reasons she has so many problems with oral fixation. But I knew first things first, I needed to first have her tested for preschool so that if she was going to make it I didn't want to mess up her chance of getting in. Well, today was the big day. I know how hard it is to get into the program, so I worked it. I did it on Monday when Sarah is the most tried from the weekend and then also at 11 am so she would be hungry. The more uncooperative a child is the more the don't answer the question and the more the have a chance of getting in. Well, she worked so hard and it was very apparent that she needs help and not just her mother could she it the tester could to and I could see them wanting to get her in the program and I just saying a prayer cause she needs this! AND SHE MADE IT IN! I was so happy because I know she needs help and we don't have the money to spend on speech therapy cause our insurance doesn't pay for it or Montessori. I also feel that giving her 6 months past the time of the normal testing helped show that she was very behind and not just a little bit like the PEEP people told me. This was a little tender mercy that I feel that Heavenly Father gave our little family today! Next, step is doing and IEP, so if anyone has any tips I would love it!

Looking at the Good in Life

A long time ago I started asking the kids what was their favorite part of the day. I have felt that it is an important lesson to teach my child to look at the good things in life; that it is a choice to be happy.

So each night before bed (if Dave is home), at scripture study. If Dave is not home then during dinner; it gives me something to talk to them about during dinner. Tonight Dave is working late, so I started off dinner asking Sarah what her favorite part of today was (I have learned to ask Sarah first cause if not she will repeat what Jonathan says)? She said Papa's (Going over to Papa's). Then right after that, she said Jonathan (taking charge of the questions- which I let her). Jonathan said going to the store. Then Sarah asked me what my favorite part was, which took me off guard because I usually just ask the kids or also Dave but I rarely say my favorite part. I said Daddy cleaning out the oven. Then Sarah asked Gordon, then we all started thing of Gordon's favorite part. I thought it was very cute of Sarah to take the lead in the dinner conversation. She is a little mommy! I love her so much!It made me think that I need to say my favorite part of the day along with the kids!

6 Months old!

It is hard to believe how time just flies when you have a baby! Gordon is 6 MONTHS OLD! We love him so MUCH, it is hard to think back and think about our family without this big guy! He brings so much joy into our lives!!! He is such a HAPPY boy! He is our BIG guy, he is 19 lbs (we go to the doctors on Monday). He started eating solids this past month on July 18th- it was hard for me to start him on solids cause I just want to keep Gordon as my baby boy. He has been ready for awhile, and my doctor always say between 4-6 months to start. I finally made the plunge with Gordon and he LOVED it. More of it went in his mouth and he swallowed it then was on the highchair. But then the following days he he would spit it out or blow bubbles. I quickly learned that he wanted it thick!!! Which is kind of funny to me, Gordon wants to be big like his brother and sisters!!! He is doing really well with Cheerios and today Dave gave him a cracker and most of it got eaten and no cough or anything!

Gordon has some funny things that he does that I love. Gordon is a thumb boy! At first you would find a thumb in Gordon's mouth if he was tried, but now he does it for comfort/tried/bored. Gordon loves to sleep on his tummy. Sometimes when he is on tummy time he will get tried, he will put either thumb in his mouth and then start thumping his right leg down. I love it. And sometimes when he is really tried there is a moan that goes with it! Gordon gives the best smiles and loves to smile at random people. Gordon also loves his feet. I will find him in his car seat just sucking on his toes (he is almost grown out of his car seat and will be moving to a new one sooner then later- CRAZY)!

Gordon is a mover today when I put him on the blanket and was in the kitchen doing something. I came back and he was in the dining area with his body stuck under the chair. He is backwards mover! He is strengthening his tummy muscle to sit and doing better all the time!
Gordon loves bed time and can't wait to sleep peacefully! He usually wakes up around 6:30-7:30; and is ready to eat!!!

Gordon is 5 Months Old!

On Sunday, June 26, Gordon turned 5 months old! Gordon is growing up so fast, I can't believe it! He is my big boy. Gordon Learned to roll over on June 11th (maybe a little bit before then). Gordon enjoys rolling over, but HATES to be on his back to sleep. Which has been hard for him to fall asleep at naps and bedtime. Gordon loves to talk and be verbal. He continues to LOVE his thumb especially when he is ready to sleep. Gordon is now in about 9 months clothes and yesterday Mommy put you in a 12 month outfit! Gordon can't wait to EAT, his doctor says that between 4-6 months you can start him on food. Mommy isn't really for her baby boy to grow up so fast! He loves to suck on apples or hard rolls, however he isn't ready for bitter biscuits! This next week Mommy was going to start him on rice cereal! We will have to see how that goes. Gordon isn't a fan of the bottle, and we both are so happy that Mommy doesn't work long hours anymore and is gone for short spurts for work. Gordon is just finding his feet and loves it. Gordon has such a great laugh!!! Gordon loves to be held and talk to, we call it loves. He continues to sleep through the night. Naps are hit and miss with the summer- but he handles it and can't wait till 6:30 comes so that he can start

getting ready for bed. Jonathan and Sarah adore Gordon! The FIRST thing Sarah does in the morning is find Gordon and give him kisses! Gordon loves peak a boo. The first time Mommy did it he was rather taken back, but now loves it! Gordon has such a calming spirit that he brings into our home. We love he big guy!

Responsibility Cards

I have finally implemented responsibility cards with Jonathan and Sarah. I have wanted to do this for over a year and finally did it. I was done with asking if they have gone potty, to get dressed. They, or at least Jonathan, know the routine and what I expect them to do. I like to call them responsibilities not chores. It has a better sound to it and chores always have a negative idea. They were super excited about them at first and now it is just another thing that they do. I like them a lot and am working one on one with Sarah. Jonathan just needed to be guided in finishing them.

Before the Blessing, back in March

Gordon is a great baby! What does that mean- well he tolerates tummy time very well and will lay his head down and suck on his thumb, and will even fall asleep. He loves to be talked to and loves to smile. Sarah likes to tell me when he is talking. He enjoys being held but is content being in the bouncer and looking at the animals and trying to hit them. He eats great and at the end of March he was 13 lbs 12 oz he was just two months then! He sleeps great through the night which I love! He sleeps on and off during the day and loves to sleep in his crib so he doesn't get bugged by his siblings! Gordon is such a contend loving baby. I feel so blessed to have him in our family! Jonathan and Sarah really enjoy preschool. Well, i would have to say that Jonathan LOVES it. And Sarah it just depends on what we are doing, if it is hands on and interactive she enjoys it. Jonathan LOVES learning. Today he was able to identify each letter in MOON. But we have only officially have learned M but he knows that the other letters are in his name. But I didn't realize that he knew them by name. It was so fun for me as a mother. I really enjoy teaching my children and am still batting around the idea of doing home school after kindergarten cause I hate the idea of my children being gone from 8-3 everyday. I want them to have my influence on their lives for 7 hours not a random teachers- although teachers are wonderful. But I want to fill their minds with my ideals! We will see. Sarah knows the letter H but not identifying it yet. She enjoys story time and sitting on my lap and learning about animals. She is learning to sit still more and trying to pay attention more. The picture above i was teaching them about wheat and the little red hen, and I even made bread for them. They thought it was great!

Smiles all around!

We have thought that maybe there has been smiles from Gordon, but it was official until March 10, 2011 (6 weeks old). Dave was holding him and talking to him- and I was able to capture it on the camera! It is so much fun I love trying to get a smile out of him! The next day he gave me lots of smiles! What a fun stage!

Taste of his own medicine

This past Saturday we were on the way to pick up Dave from the airport and this was the conversation between Jonathan and Sarah!

Sarah: Uff? (Joesph)

Jonathan: At his house.

Sarah: Why?

Jonathan: Eating dinner.

Sarah: Why?

Jonathan: Don't ask why!

Sarah: Uke? (Luke)

Jonathan: At his house.

Sarah: Why?

Jonathan: Eating Dinner.

Sarah: Why?

Jonathan: Don't ask why!

It made me laugh because Sarah learned Why very early because Jonathan asks WHY all the time! I have been trying to explain to Jonathan that he needs to be patience!

Dino Museum

On Saturday we had talked about going to the Dinosaur Museum, but decided to go to the Aquarium. Well, Jonathan heard that and Curious George has show about the Dinosaur museum and so his heart was set on going there, so Grandpa took him! He looked it!

Playing in a little cave!

This was one of there favorite places! They could dig around in the and and play with dinosaurs.

WE saw a 3-D movie about Dinosaurs and Jonathan really enjoyed it. He was trying to touch them. Sarah was on my lap hiding her eyes!

This was another favorite spot. Acting like Paleontologist.

Jonathan enjoyed making a dinosaur!

Enjoying coloring! It was great fun, thanks Grandpa!

Our Sarah

The other day we came home from the store and I was unloading the car and this is how I found Sarah! With the seat belt on and everything! What a cutie!

Sarah is in that phase of us trying to teach her about obeying and listening. Its hard cause she will do the same things that she isn't suppose to do over and over again (isn't that how parenting is)! Well, just this past week Sarah said the word "OBEY". I just love it when they learn that word, and then they repeat it when they are suppose to obey hopefully we will be on the up with learning to obey the little things I ask her to!

Jonathan's Phrases

Jonathan has so many different phrase that he says that just makes me laugh. I thought I would write down a few. So Jonathan will tell me something he likes to do and say "good idea?" The first time he said it, it just made me laugh, where did he pick that up? Or I will tell him what we are going to do and he will say "good idea mom" or "sounds good mom". Its funny when he will tell me something he wants to do, like today we were running errands and he wanted to see Luke, Lacey and Lydia. He was telling how we could go see them, and then he said sounds good?

So I was trying to figure out where he got that phrase and I was talking to Dave and he said it, and it just made me laugh, of course, US! Dave laughs when Jonathan will say Bummer or Oh Man (things that I say).

Jonathan is SO inquisitive, he has started into the WHY phase. I do try to answer his many questions because I don't want his sense of wonder and amazement of life to ever leave. But, when I am concentrating on something or doing something and I don't answer he will say "TALK to me MOM!" It sure caught my attention, and makes me smile!

This is Drew and Jonathan back at the end of December and I forgot to post it. I think they are so cute, and they are about 2 months apart and from reading Amy's blog they are about in the phase of the why's- so I thought it was perfect to post

Another finished Project

Kristi said that I needed to show off my banner cause it is way cute! I really like it. I think that I will be making a thanksgiving type one! It is a fun decoration!

Oh and here is a cute veido of Jonathan counting and jumping!

Words

Yesterday morning we were painting some trim and the kids just loved to be outside and free. I took a break and there were Jonathan and Sarah just sitting together. I thought it was cute!
Yesterday Sarah was just loving having me home and being able to hold her while we listened to Conference, and so I got a lot of this yesterday and it was wonderful!
Jonathan of course wanted to get in!

We have a nightly routine; so each night we put a blanket out and sit on the blanket and then kids look at the pictures in the children's Book of Mormon and then Dave or I read in the scriptures and then we sing a song of Jonathan's choosing (usually Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam or I m a Child of God). Then we pray as a family. After we shake the blanket (I need to video tape it cause it way cute of Jonathan jumping and Sarah trying to shake the blanket) like we do in nursery and they love esp Sarah. Then we give kisses and hugs. And I guess we always say I love you because this past week Sarah first two word phase was "LOVE YOU". I was so surprised and it was so cute. So Dave and i both told her that we loved her again and she said it again. We love it. She also says "amen" and is very good at folding her arms the entire time we pray! It is funny how Jonathan's first phrase was "uh oh" and Sarah's is "love you"; they are so different in there own ways- we love it!

With having scripture study we have been taking about Joseph Smith, Nephi and Lehi. So yesterday I was looking at Kristi's blog and she had a collage of the twins with a picture of Joseph. So Jonathan started naming them Lacey, Luke, and Joseph Smith. It made me laugh and then I corrected with telling him that it was cousin Joseph. He is such a smart boy!

My Sarah

Cute Sarah!

Just a few cute pictures of Sarah! She is my little toddler, she toddles everywhere now! No crawling for Sarah! She just wants to be big and independent like her brother. She wants to walk in the parking lot to go into stores and also without holding hands- giving me the attitude of I am big enough I can do it myself! I can't say I know where she gets that from :) Yesterday for Breakfast I gave her some cereal with milk in it and she did great! She just ate it, without dumping it everywhere! She did great with the spoon! Sarah is doing really well at me telling her a simple direction and doing it. One of the things that I love is that for naps or bed time I will say "Sarah its bedtime, go to your crib" and she will walk all the way to the crib and put her hands up on the bars. But the moment I pick her up she will start to cry! Sarah is great at giving little tantrums every time she doesn't get what she wants, so we are working on time outs trying to see if we can stop this super fast! We also are trying to work on not screaming out at church, so we are working on that in FHE which is a big chore. Thankfully Jonathan is doing great at church and can get all the way through the sacrament part with out toys and food and will sit semi quiet.

This above picture is Sarah ready for church! I found these bows that matched this dress at a garage sale and I was thrilled that they matched! I have been waiting till Sarah walked to wear this dress, so yesterday was the day! I thought she was the cutest girl at church! I am going to get her 18 month pictures in this, but she got a bug bit on her cheek yesterday once that is healed then we will go!

My Little Toddler

About a week in half ago Sarah Started to be able to walk with things and it was just so adorable! She loves to find my goggles and but them around her neck! She just makes me laugh!
Look at that smile!

Sarah just loves to put hats on!

Jonathan always wants to be where the action is! Sarah is so tolerant of it!

I think this is such a cute picture of Sarah getting ready to go camping with Daddy!
Sarah is growing up so fast she is becoming my little toddler and not a baby anymore! This video below is right before I left for sisters weekend, and Sarah was still about 50 % walking and 50% crawling, still using her arms for balance but less! Well, when I came back she is walking about 90% and on uneven ground- she is able to go where she wants! I know Sarah just loves it! It our course has it pros and cons for me! But, she sure has a mind of her own! But I am happy to report that Sarah is finally walking at 18 months, way to go Sarah! Last week was her official day to go into nursery! She is my cute little girl (not a baby anymore)! She is getting about 2-3 more tooth to fill in those holes when she smiles, and she is having no problems with it! I love you my Sarah Bear!

Life

These are some pictures of this last week, and they seem to be all of Sarah! Oh well, that is just how it is! Some weeks it is more pictures of Jonathan then Sarah!

Sarah absolutely loves watermelon, she must take after her Mom!!
This past week my Mom and I were able to Met up with a great friend of ours that we grew up with in California. Oh how I miss Kirsti!! It was great to talk with her and see where the Lord has has directed her paths. It was a good reminder that we all have different paths we are supposed to take, each id different, one is not better then the other just different! It is wonderful to see how she is doing good in New York and making a difference out there! The kids loved her! Sarah wanted to be held by her and wanted to continually touch her with her gross hands! Jonathan picked up her name way fast, it may help that we have a cousin named Kirsten. We ate lunch at the MOA, after we looked at some exhibits and if Kirsti wasn't moving as fast as Jonathan wanted he would say "Come here, Kirsten". It was way fun to see you Kirsti!

Sarah loves to be nakey, and she recently has found a new toy she like!

Sarah is growing up so much, I really don't think that she is almost 18 months old since she isn't walking it just makes me think that she is still little. But then I caught glances of her when she is actually walking she just looks like a big toddler! Sarah is doing more and more walking which is great! I try to encourage her to walk and not carry her, cause she just loves to be carried! Sarah is starting to sign more, she has made up her own sign for birdy. She is starting to say a few more words such as : hi, Dada, Mama (but she is actually directing them to us), she is getting the P syllable for Papa. It is coming! I need to help her with more sign words cause she just gets frustrated when she can't communicate and just squeals! Her hair is getting so blonde these days and way long in the back!

We are finally getting tomatoes out of our garden, little by little, and I totally forgot how amazing fresh grown tomatoes are! We are continually painting and almost half way done and getting better with each section! Happy Birthday Sweetie!! I have a wonderful husband that works so hard for our family and is working today. He is also, willing to pint on his Birthday! We are celebrating on Saturday, but I have a few surprises for him when he gets home! When I asked him what he wanted for his Birthday, he said he just wanted a Happy wife and kids!! Well, I guess he got one present already! We got an early present, this past weekend one of the mangers at Costco told Dave that after his student teaching was done he would have a job at Costco when he is done! We don't know all the details of it, but that is okay we just wanted a job to help pay the bills! With how the economy is it is a major blessing. A while back we fasted that we could keep Dave's job during student teaching, after the fast we both were at peace that everything would work out. Then the weeks to follow they just didn't seem to be working with him, and we both got very frustrated because we were losing a lot besides his job. But now we know that there is a job waiting for him maybe not in the pharmacy, but Heavenly Father can see the big picture and he is blessing us little by little, and helping us put different pieces into the puzzle!

I love this clip, I just think it is way cute, when they enjoy each other and play together! (Prior to taping Jonathan was helping Sarah all by himself without us saying that anything!

Our Sarah

I just love this picture of Sarah! She is just growing and learning so much! Sarah isn't walking yet, but I can totally tell that she is getting stronger on her legs. But with not walking she has to get places, so she has became a climber like her brother, at this age. It she is great at climbing up slides! In Jonathan's room and also in the backyard, she does have to watch out for her brother cause he like to come down on top of her! Sarah is FINALLY saying Ma ma, not that I think it is to me. But at least she is starting on a new syllable which I am happy for! So she is onto three- Ma ma, Da da, Ba ba. She is signing tons now, which I LOVE. IT seems that she is hungrier these days, which might be because I am totally off breast feeding her (it of course has its pros and cons). So hopefully the pounds start coming! Sarah loves to be outside however she isn't not a fan of the grass. So she will crawl with her legs up and arms up so nothing but her hands and feet touch the grass. It makes me laugh! Sarah continues to be very friendly and wanting to wave at anybody she sees. Yesterday, at church she was all into the chorister and was trying to the lead also and then when it was done she would just clap. It was so adorable to watch. I love my Sarah, she is growing up so much!