Speech Therapy

Well, Laci completed her first week in speech therapy. She has a tendency to leave out consonants at the end of most of her words. Sometimes she leaves them out in the middle of words, too. Needless to say, she can be very difficult to understand, even for me, since I usually serve as her translator.

So, after speaking with a nursery leader about whether or not she is ADD - which still needs to be determined - I had her evaluated by the school district. They examined various developmental skills along with her hearing (passed hearing with flying colors...whew!). She is still too young to be evaluated for ADD, which is best diagnosed around 5-6 years of age. Since I have siblings with ADD, and she is incredibly active, I had always planned on getting her evaluated when she started kindergarten. I knew she was struggling with pronounciation, and naively thought she would have to wait until she started school to see a speech therapist.

Well, after her evaluation we found out that Laci could attend speech therapy (free of cost!) because she was in the "severe" category. Okay, so some of this was hard to hear. As a mom you never want to hear that there is something wrong with your child. But, as a mom, I also have the responsibility to help my kids be as successful as possible ... no one else is going to do it for them!

And, she is doing great! We practice a word worksheet 2-3x a day, and of course, I give her a reward after each time she goes through it so she'll stay excited about practicing. It's only been one week, but I am thrilled to see Laci's progress!! (Maybe now I don't have to worry about my baby being made fun of when she does enter kindergarten.)

Saturday Jobs

Laci is my doer. She never sits still, even to read a book! She squirms the entire time or wanders around looking for things to do as she listens. It's very annoying and frustrating to me in this situation, but for the most part, I admire her energy and capacity.


She is also very self-motivated. She was maybe 18 months when she first carried her folded clothes to her room after I finished doing the laundry. I've never had to ask her to take them to her room since! (yes, that was a jaw-dropping experience)


She is my adventurer! She LOVES experiencing and learning new things, regardless of what it is! So, even though she is only 3, I've assigned her some Saturday chores. Of course, it requires a lot of help from Mommy, but I'm impressed at how well she does without me! Here is her job list:


1. Wipe window sills in family room and kitchen with wet rag (I follow behind and dry)

2. Wipe down fireplace glass (she added this one herself!)

3. Straighten and vacuum playroom and bedroom (she does pretty well with the straightening, and I only require her to vacuum along the walls until she gets the hang of it...thankfully, we have a really light-weight vacuum)

4. Clean entry floor (since it's only a 3x3-foot tile area, it's a great size for teaching on! My cute girl, enjoyed it so much, she wanted to help me do the much larger kitchen tile ... Jacob wanted to join in, too!)

Laci is a wonderful big sister, and sets an amazing example for her younger brother!

We are proud of you Laci!

Broken Toe?

So, I still haven't figured out my picture situation. I need Jason around. He's far more tech savvy than I am! Pictures to come soon...

This morning, as I was hauling Laci off to her bedroom for time-out, she wiggled in front of me and my toe jammed into the back of her heel like a head-on collision. Of course, I was worried about her foot - especially because if it hurt anything like my toe did! - and yet, she wasn't phased in the least! Pain shot through my entire foot and up my leg! So, here I was hobbling along, pulling Laci beside me - as if it's not hard enough to "man-handle" her anymore - she is now half my height! Somehow, I managed to get her to her room, close the door, and back into the kitchen to look at my toe.

I refuse to go to the doctor and sit through xrays for a toe. What can he do that I can't do myself - besides the xrays? I'd rather buy a $2 toe-splint and take care of the problem myself. Is it broken? I may never know ... but I sure have a lovely bruise and fat toe!

Frustrated

Okay, so I have more pictures to post on my blog. A few of them are sideways, and I can't figure out how to rotate them. Last time I posted pictures there was a link on my toolbar for that purpose, but now it's not there this time. I promise I didn't dream it up last time; is there another way to do it? Help!

Feeling Guilty

So, I had an eye-opening experience in my earlier post under "8 Things Jason Did For You Today So You Didn't Have To." I cracked a joke, implying that he does nothing to help me out. But, then I felt guilty all the rest of the day because: 1) am I really so oblivious to the little things? 2) how ungrateful I sound! 3) he really does a lot! So, here are some things he did yesterday so that I didn't have to:

1. went to work
2. took out the trash
3. called about car insurance
4. started the kids' bath water while I finished dishes
5. straightened our bedroom...
6. ...including making the bed (huge service to me! often our room comes last on my list)
7. read Laci and Jacob bedtime stories
8. turned off the light when we went to bed

8 Things Tag

So, my cousin Sara tagged me... but I actually enjoy reading these because I always learn something new about my friends! So, please humour me...

8 TV Shows I Enjoy Watching (no specific order)
1. Prison Break
2. Law and Order
3. Lipstick Jungle
4. Today Show
5. What Not to Wear
6. Rachael Ray
I never regret watching her show; she's really creative with her recipes and has some great money-saving tips!
7. Dr. Oz on Oprah
8. HGTV
LOVE getting inexpensive, do-it-yourself decorating tips...although, I could save myself an hour in front of the TV and call Mariley for ideas instead :)
(Okay, that was a stretch...I really don't watch that much TV; most of these shows are hit and miss, except for Prison Break. We are die-hard loyal fans!)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
1. woke up
2. family scriptures
3. straightened our rooms
4. Laci watched cartoons
5. checked blogs
6. ran errands
7. gave Laci and Jacob baths
8. personal scripture study
9. went to bed

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To
1. Thanksgiving in AZ
2. our families coming for Christmas
3. my birthday
4. Jason's Christmas bonus
5. having date night again
6. losing all my baby weight
7. crepes for dinner
8. soaking in a steaming bubble bath

8 Things Jason Did For Me So I Didn't Have To
Okay, that one is funny!

8 Things On My Wish List
Can I skip this one? There really are too many things to count after 6 months of unemployment. In order to stay happy, positive, and cheerful, I simply don't dwell on it!

8 People I Am Tagging
Stacey
Lara
Mariley
Audrey
Brooke
Alacey
Holly
Terin
Katie
Sarah
(Okay, that was 10)

:)

Partners In Crime!

Jacob has crossed over to the dark side ...

So, I come out of the bathroom and things are way too quiet. Not only that, but Laci and Jacob are nowhere to be seen. Then I hear little sounds coming from the pantry. So, I apprehensively open the door because you know it can't be good. The two accomplices were covered in powdered and brown sugar, as if one just wasn't enough! And, of course, Jacob was eating it!

Cookie Monster!

Jacob doesn't just like food; he LOVES it. (Thank you! It's nice to get a repreive from Laci's picky eating habits!) These are a few pics of my little cookie monster...


i love cookies!!!


mmmm!


gone already?


do I have chocolate on my face?

Happy Halloween!

Last night was so much fun ... Enjoy the slideshow!

Make a Smilebox slideshow