Sarah vs. REFLO cup

We are trying a new cup to help Sarah make the transition from a cup with a lid and straw to a regular cup.  It looks like a reg cup, but has a flow regulator that helps keep her from dumping the whole cup on her.  She is not happy with the cup and is currently having a showdown.  She refuses to even try the cup.  I think we will be sitting here a LONG time.

Sick babies

Oh my, two sick little ones.  Sarah has a fever, ear infection and sinus infection.  One more ear infection and she will get new tubes.  Isaac has his first ear infection and a fever.  He has really been pitiful, but he really loves his medicine!

Sarah’s Dance Clinic

This afternoon Sarah went to a local high school for a dance clinic.  She had a great time.  They will get to perform at the girl’s basketball game next week.  I will video it and post then.  Here are a few shots from the night.This is the girl that worked with Sarah.  She really has a gift for working with children with special needs.  She said she wants to work with them as an adult.  Hope working with Sarah tonight firmed up that desire.  She really was special.

Basketball game

Elijah had his first game today.  He did pretty good until he got hit in the nose.  He is fine. Sarah disowned us! LOL. She was still mad about the hair.  Isaac loved yelling and clapping!

How dare I brush her hair....

She is very upset that her hair is different.  She is totally pissed off at the world now.  Sigh.  I will pay for it today.

On the raod again...

We seem to stay on the go around here! Elijah has his first basketball game in the morning so I will post game pictures hopefully tomorrow. Sarah is going to a dance clinic in the afternoon and will get to perform with the dance team at an area high school. She is excited to dance with the big kids. I am sure she will have tons of fun and I will have tons of pictures to post! All 3 kids get to go to Buddy Break tonight while Doug and I have a date night! WooHoo!! Buddy Break is a respite program for families of children with special needs. Each child is assigned a "buddy" that watches and helps them for the night. They have a ton of activities for the kids to do and the kid gets to pick what they want to do. All of the buddies have been trained to work with special needs. Elijah loves to go and be the center of attention of his buddy. This is really good for him. Isaac is finally crawling! He crawled for the first time a few nights ago and as I was typing this has crawled several times!! SO excited to see him on the move.

Resolutions

I had vowed that I was going to do more in depth blogging this year and yet I have not! I have a post in the works, but not ready yet. Just a true look at life. Might not even be something I post, may just need to be something I write. Life is going good. Here is just an update on all of us.

Doug
Doing well. Did have some knee issues last year and had a torn tendon in his knee they did surgery in Dec to repair it. He is back to normal activities and does not seem to have much problems with it. He has given up running. This is big for him. He has been running for 35 years. We got an eliptical and he has started using it. He has to do something with all the food he eats he would gain weight FAST if he was not active!!! He does have a job interview with a local utility next week which would be a great job, so prayers would be appreciated.

Elijah
Doing great. He is 8 now and in the 2nd grade. He is loving school and playing basketball for the first time. He has made all A's so far this year. He is growing tall. He has a few extra baby teeth and we have found out he has at least 1 extra adult tooth, so dental surgery is in his future. He has adjusted to us moving to a closer church home and made a great new friend. They have already had 1 sleepover and are planning the next!! Oh the joys of childhood. Elijah and Doug finished the clubhouse and have had fun playing in it. It is really cool. I need to get some pictures and do a post. Maybe this spring when it is warmer!!!

Sarah
Sarah is doing really good. She has been healthier lately so that has been nice. We have all had a few illnesses, but she has not been as bad as in the past. She is back in preschool. The special ed class at school was not a good fit. We will see what next year holds. I have been collecting stuff for homeschooling if needed. She is adjusting to having a baby brother. She is not impressed with him, but is tolerating him much better. She does love him and love to kiss on him, but she is just not sure about him. She walked on her tippy toes for the first time Wed!!!!!! We had taken her AFO's off to check her ankles and she started walking on her toes. She is getting stronger all the time. Still needs the AFO's for now, but doing better. She is getting so smart and amazes me with her talking all the time, in fact had to tell her to stop talking for the first time the other day!

Isaac
Isaac is growing up fast. He is still a rolly polly!! He is finally starting to get taller. He does not crawl yet, but he is so close. He is trying to pull up some. He has 2 teeth and jabbers all the time. He is eating table food and drinking from a straw sippy cup. He has been very healthy. He has only had 1 fever and 1 stomach bug.

Me
Well, I am doing better. I started having back pain last year and found out I had to have back surgery. I had a spinal fusion in Oct. My mother came and stayed for 7 weeks and Doug's mom came for a week. I am up and about now. Just started physical therapy and finally have pain relief. I feel like I am going to make it now!

Well, that is the basics. I will do better, I hope!!!

Snow Day Fun

We got a little snow.  It was enough to cancel schools for icy roads.  We have all had the fun stomach bug, so we were not planning on going today anyway.  Isaac seems to be completely over it.  I am a lot better.  Elijah is eating today, but having lots of cramps.  Doug has a mild case and is fine.  Sarah as usual got it the worst and is still sick. Poor baby she really struggles with illnesses.  Enjoy the pictures of Elijah and Doug.

Christmas Morning

A few from Christmas Eve:

Feeding the reindeer:

Cookies for Santa: 

Surprise:  

Wow:      

Trying out his air hawk:

Sarah preferred Isaac’s toys, she did decide she LOVED the microphone and has decided now that her toys are hers and of course Isaac’s are hers too!  Need to work on the sharing!  Isaac has learned to scream when she touches his toys, lol!

Christmas Celebrations

We traveled as usual for Christmas this year.  We did do a few combination of trips this year, so we were gone for one longer trip versus several smaller trips.  We all had a great time.  I think the kids ended up with Toys-R-Us!!!  We have way too many toys.  I definitely need to do a toy purge one day!  Here are a few pictures of our celebrations!

I will share Christmas morning tomorrow!!!!!