Now I lay me down to sleep (Why do I always say that in my head using the creepy Metallica voice??)

Spring Break here still- well at least for 3 of us. Nateman is back at school. I had hoped to get my 12 page list of to-do's completed while Aaron is home but time is running out. Oh well- the house is better than it was! Today I attempted to tackle the kids' rooms and at least plan what else needs to be done in there for them.
First up is Neve's room. She LOVES her "Owl Room" and looks forward to climbing into her owl sheets every night. ..and if there are any "decorators" out there- I need ideas for what to hang from her quilt rack rod? frames? birds? I just can't think...  ANother thing I would LIKE to do is have a window seat cushion custom made to match her decor... maybe I can have my mom ask around in retirementland to find some old biddy that sews. :)

...and let me tell you how awesome (albeit UGLY) Neve's wake-up clock is. The bottom "sleeping cow" is illuminated when she is sleeping and then instead of an alarm clock, the "playing cow" is illuminated at whatever time we set it for. LOVE THIS! How great for a kid that can't quite tell time and it has eliminated the, "DAD! MOM! What time is it? Is it wake-up time?!".

Next up is Nateman's room. He has the same "Alphabet" theme from Ohio. He still really likes learning about his letters and such so we will keep it for another year or so and then let him help pick a more grown up boy theme.

DON'T FEED THE BEARS (well, you can throw in that one kid that always bites Nate)

Aaron is still on vacation so I graciously dropped out of my duties as Greenfield Gators Kindergarten Field Trip chaperone. ;) The trip was actually to the Phoenix Zoo and since I was just there with Neve on Tuesday, I stayed home with Neve today.
Aaron said Nate was a rockstar and was perfectly behaved. yay! I think Aaron had a good time too except being hounded by Crazy-try-to-sell-you-my-supplements-Mom at lunch time. I am just happy to see another parent involved! That in itself is a minor miracle. Aaron also noted the lunchtime meals of the special needs kids in Nate's class--bag of cookies, pudding, etc.. I think he was proud to be sitting next to our rockstar Nate who was happily munching on turkey, peas, strawberries and apricots. (Trust me, we have been through the feeding problems and came out the other side- IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's ONE thing we HAVE done right! ha!)

This is Nate with his favorite aide, Ms. Janette.

Nate and his classmates, Gianna and Caden.



I Wet My Plants

Neve has started a garden. I know, alert the media. lol. It actually is really fun AND Nate is getting in on the action too- he's loves watering it everyday. We have lima beans (Neve insisted on planting them since they are Nate's favorite food), tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, sunflowers, and daisies. :) Just wanted to share...

Neve first planting the "garden" a few weeks ago...

They both LOVE running out to take care of them everyday!

SAVE FERRIS

Beautiful sunny weekend here in good ol' Arizona. It's in the high 80's/low 90's and it's Spring Break for all. Yay! Aaron has 2 weeks off too, otherwise I would have lost my mind trying to entertain these two. It's actually quite difficult finding activities that Nate likes....and if we do find something, it's nearly impossible to monitor him properly while helping Neve at the same time. Ugh. I will be very happy when we can finally settle on a long term aide that we feel is a good fit for our family. THEN we might actually be able to go on some adventures without having to always wait for Aaron to come along.
Today we hit this little park in town that we love going to. It has a small throw back amusement ride area for the kiddos, as well as a train ride, playground, and pond with ducks.

Nate and Neve always have a blast there. I will upload all the cute pics to the family Shutterfly page tonight. There are definitely some cute ones.

In other news, Neve is now registered for year two of preschool next Fall. We went back and forth over where to send her next year and it wasn't an easy decision. She currently attends a private Christian preschool that she loves. Her little friends she has made there are all coming back next year, so that made it so tough...BUT we decided to send her to the Amanecer preschool which is held at the same Elementary school where Nate will be next year. The Amanecer preschool is comprised of a mix of special needs students and typically developing students. Neve, being a typically developing student, will serve as a peer model for the developmentally delayed kids in her class. :) I hope she makes us proud.

Coolest Mom, yep- that's me!

Well, it doesn't happen very often here in AZ, but it was a gloomy rainy day today- ALL DAY! This made for some grouchy kiddos. SO, being the awesome mom that I am, I busted out the 9 ft tall inflatable bouncing slide, and played with it indoors. Is it safe? um, not really. lol. Is it fun? EXTREMELY. Doesn't get much better in the eyes of a 3 and 5 yr old.

Running With Scissors

Although I complain pretty much every day about Nate's current programming *sigh*, the little guy honestly is chugging along. Here is some of his work from this month so far just to show you where he is at. These are all of the INDEPENDENT pieces, so I am super proud.

First is his Valentine's Bear. This was cut completely independently- so he has come along way! He has always struggled a little with scissors as taking his time is not something he does often!
 
 
 
 

Next are his counting worksheets. He does these types of worksheets all on his own now and can write all his numbers. Go Nateman!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The next two are comprehension worksheets. One was done after a Clifford movie. The other was done after reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I love these. I love that he attempts to draw them. Pretty impressive for Nate.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Coloring has ALWAYS been a struggle for Nate. This sheet was done all on his own following verbal prompts as to which shape to color which color.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

He can write most letters now with just a verbal prompt. Here is a tracing worksheet to show how his letters are coming along. This was done all on his own. :)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We are debating about next year's placement school-wise. I do not feel the public school system is the best place for him long term, but I think we will go another year until we can work out the perfect placement for him. Plus, for at least next year, he should be at the same school with his sister. So stay tuned as the 2011/12 IEP drama begins to unfold.. :(

How the heck is it almost FEBRUARY!!!???

end of January 2011- really?  We have almost been in Arizona for 6 months now. insane. I feel like we just got here. I suppose it's because we are still far from settled. Nate is still having issues with his school and programming. Nate's funding from the State STILL isn't completely finalized- and let me tell you how draining that is on ANYONE'S finances. ugh. The house is still mostly a disaster. The 3 car garage still is so full of boxes that we can't park even one car in it yet. Niiiiice. Oh and the decor change is barely inching along from the previous owners which is highlighted by the palm tree drapes in the eating area that we have just been "living with"...but you know the longer they stay they will just end up being a permanent fixture in our lives which IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. lol.

The Holidays were mad busy around here. I flew home to Columbus for a weekend, then My mom and I took Neve on an overnight trip to the Polar Express, then Neve turned 3 and we threw her a big party, then Christmas and everything that goes along with it.

Neve is doing great, as usual. We are really proud of her. She is still loving school so much and talks about her classmates constantly. She is learning so much and can almost write her name by herself. GO NEVE! She is still at the Little Gym for her gymnastics/social skills class, but has now transitioned up to the BIG KID class where Mommy no longer goes in. I get to watch from the window and it's so much fun to see how well she does with the other kids.

Nate is finally starting to come around a little bit here as well. It helps that we can spend pretty much all day everyday outside here in AZ. Bike rides, park trips, wagon rides, you name it- the kid just wants to be outside. He is doing ok in his programs, we just feel the overall programming is lacking so much. This is mostly due to the fact that we haven't been able to self pay for ALL the therapies we feel he needs to have a complete program. Hopefully we will get things wrapped up with the DDD here and be in a much better place within the next few months. Nate is definitely using more words..unfortunately it is MAINLY scripting. If you aren't familiar with "scripting", it's where he repeats an episode of a tv show or movie WORD FOR WORD. If it wasn't so freaky it would be kind of amazing. :) Nate's words are still very unclear so you have to know which show it is and then you can pick it up. Nate's show of choice is Backyardigans right now and last month it was Blue's Clues. Aaron and I always try to pick up on which episode it is- and when we do and repeat some lines back to Nate he gets so tickled and looks us dead straight in the eyes while smiling. It's crazy. It's like, "wow! You guys know this too?!". He loves when we understand him. He lights up like a Christmas tree.

I took a couple videos of Nate this morning (that's why he is in PJ's). I haven't taken any videos of him lately so I thought I would document some things. The first is Nate singing the Backyardigans theme song. I think it's so cute. If you have ever watched the show you should be able o recognize the melody I think. It's so cute as Nate has never really "sung" a song before. I love how he tries to hit the high notes. :)I left the tape rolling a bit after wards to show his "air writing". He does this all day. It's where he is writing out words in the air. It's so common for us we don't even notice anymore when he does it because it is constant.

The next video is Nate on his magnadoodle. He loves it and spends a ton of time with it. He writes on it while watching Blue's Clues and calls it his "Handy Dandy Notebook". They had an episode recently of the Cow jumped over the moon" (Nate picked up a lot from that one).

Anyway- we are super proud of our little guy too. His progress hasn't been leaps and bounds, but it is there! I hope the new year brings lots of great changes for him. He is with a new biomed doctor here in AZ so maybe we can shake things up a little and see what happens. Count me in.