Bringing Up Boys

One Last Winter Hurrah

  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

Oh and Happy Birthday to this fabulous lady.  She's my husband's mama, my boys' Nana, a wife, artist, teacher, sister, and friend.  My most favorite part about her?  She's the kind of Nana who's not afraid to go sledding.... 

 
 
 

How Many Days Until Spring?

Neither snow nor ice nor freezing rain nor winter's gloom could keep this kid off his bike today.

 

Looks like somebody is ready for spring.

SCORE

Beckett - 1

Mother Nature - 0 (unless you count the 6+ winter storms we've had since December)

 

The 3rd and Final Trimester Has Arrived

 

It's hard to believe....

 

In just two short months....I'll be a mother of three! 

 

My other pregnancies seemed to last a lifetime.  But not this one. 

 

It's going by way too fast. 

 

So I have a few cravings....

And I happened to be caught on camera satisfying two of them...cookies & milk.

 
 

Maybe this is how I gained 9 pounds in one month?

When I Grow Up....

 

 

 

Steelers Cheat (Accusations from a 3-Year-Old)

   

He may or may not have been brainwashed by his Steelers-hating/Seahawks-loving father....

If You've Ever Struggled to Get Your Child Help....

For any parent who has ever struggled to get your child help in school....you can probably identify with the video posted below.

I sure can. 

At age 3.6, Cooper still couldn't say his name (or much else for that matter).  Diagnosed with apraxia, Cooper's original school IEP (Individualized Education Plan) only allotted for 10 minutes of speech a week at school.  10 minutes!  And the kid had a medical diagnoses that detailed a neurological disorder. 

How could the district only give him 10 minutes of speech a week?

The IEP meeting that followed went something like this...
 

2 Years later and I wish I could say I was victorious in taking on the school district.  I wasn't.  Cooper's now getting a lousy 15 minutes of speech a week in school.  As for his school speech therapist?  Well, I can't even get her to reply to an email, let alone show up for a parent-teacher conference.  And....since we don't have money to hire a lawyer, we put what money we do have towards private speech therapy.  To make peace within myself, I decided to concentrate on the positive qualities of the district...like the amazing teachers who go above and beyond to help kids who need a little more of it.   While I am immensely disappointed in the therapy options overall, I am oozing with gratitude for the actual teachers who have spent countless hours working on things that the speech therapist should have spearheaded.

Sincerely,

Cooper's Mom

PS...Cooper did eventually learn to say his name!  To learn more about his apraxia diagnoses and ongoing recovery - just click on the "verbal apraxia" link on the left side of this blog.   Thanks for caring :)

So What If It's January?

Sometimes...

You just have to....

 
GO SWIMMING!

 

Even if it is snowing outside.

 

12 Days of Christmas

December.  Typically the craziest month of the year for me.   Work is always nuts.  The kids are typically a little nutty themselves.  And travel we must as we enjoy seeing both families for the holidays. 

I'm pretty sure we couldn't possibly have packed one more activity into the Christmas season.

Here's this month in pictures and video too....

1.  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...starring Beckett as a King.

 

2.  A night out without the kids?  That's not allowed!  Except when Dad and I have our yearly father-daughter date.  2010 served up gourmet at Lindey's!

 

3.  Meet Annabel!  My newest niece and sweet little bundle of baby love.

 

4.  60-years young!  My father-in-law celebrated his 60th Birthday with his five grandchildren in tow.  Happy Birthday Mike!

 

5.  Let it snow!  We had our first snowfall of the season (and it still hasn't melted).

 

 

6.  Zoo lights!  Possibly my favorite Christmas activity.  It involves zero cleaning up and always includes hot chocolate.

 

 

 

7. What holiday table is complete without a gingerbread train? 

 

Our creation was a bit bare since someone (who shall remain nameless) kept eating all the ingredients.

 

8. Uncle Clark left 75 degree temperatures in Houston to visit snow covered Ohio. 

 

And he brought 2 lovely ladies with him.  Welcome to Ohio Lauren and Rachel!

 
 
 
9.  Gifts at Christmas are the best.  But when the gift is something made with love, it lasts a lifetime.  These blankets my Granny knitted for the boys are already on their beds.

 
 

10. Christmas Eve!  Carrots for the reindeer, cookies & milk for Santa!

 

11. Christmas night.  Ho, Ho, Ho...meet the Walsh family's Santa.

 

12. Christmas morning!  The chaos began bright and early.  And continued all.day.long.

 

Christmas.  Such a fabulous holiday.  Friends, family, food, gifts, love. 

Christmas.  Such an immense amount of work for every mother out there. 

Christmas.  Glad to see you come.  Glad to see you go :)

 

Half Cooked

We're halfway there!  20 weeks cooked!  20 more to go.

Each time we get to sneak a peek, our baby boy looks more and more babyish and less and less fetus-like.

 

He's developing perfectly weighing about 11 ounces and measuring 6 and a half inches long.  I won't bore you with dozens of new ultrasound photos but I do have one shot that was sort of out of the ordinary.

An awesome shot of both baby feet together!

 

I started feeling those little suckers kicking around in there a few weeks ago.  At the moment, they are resting right on my bladder.  I figure if this baby is anything like his brothers, those little feet will probably stay there for a few more weeks before he shoves them into my ribs for the duration of his stay :)