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.

So Long! Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

Goodbye binkies. Hello big girl.

This weekend we decided to pull the plug on the cork. Neve isn't quite 3 yet, but it is time. She only uses it at nap and bedtime, but she doesn't need it anymore. It seems to just be a habit now rather than something needed to soothe....so time to say goodbye!

We have thought about it before but we have hesitated because of Nate. Nate was still using a binky at bedtime, but he was also using one during "downtime" in the afternoon. He constantly grinds his teeth and needs oral input at all times, so we let him have it. Last month we ordered some "chewy tubes", made for kids like Nate, that are a bit more appropriate for him to get that input he needs. We had tried these when he was younger and he wanted nothing to do with them. THIS time though, he took to them. We put the binkies away now during the binkies away during the day now, so Neve won't see that Nate has them either.

We headed off to Build-a-Bear, where Neve was allowed to pick any bear she wanted. We stuffed her binkies inside and told her she would sleep with Binky Bear now that she was a big girl.

We let the kiddos play in the play area for a little bit and they had a great time...

..well, it might have involved some pushing from Nate, but in his defense, Neve CAN be a bit annoying.lol.

Nap time yesterday was rough. Neve realized that Binky bear was NOT giving

back the binkies and she kept looking for his pocket (where she assumed he was holding her binky). She stayed in her room for 2 hours but never slept. ((SIGH))

Bedtime was better. After screaming at Binky Bear to, "Give it back!", and clawing at his seams, she fell asleep. Today she fell asleep for her nap with only a small protest. Progress.

Who you callin' a witch?

We have survived the last week of Fall break. PHEW!!!!!! That was rough. I can't wait to get an aide lined up for Nateman. Poor kid. He just doesn't find a lot of joy in "things" so it can be challenging...and Miss Neve likes to push her buttons (like any 2 yr old sister) and he has complete meltdowns. Ahhhh...somebody make me a margarita!!

Aaron was able to work from home today so he was able to help out with Nate. Neve and I had quite a day. We started out making gluten free banana chocolate chip muffins. She LOVED doing this!!!

Then we talked all about Halloween and made a witch. Neve loves witches. hehehe. ..and since her school has banned all witches, ghosts, devils, and goblins, I guess she better see them at home. :)

Here is Neve's witch. The girl is obsessed with glue sticks.ha!

I am not sure what the rest of the weekend holds. It is hot as hell here still so I am not sure we will pumpkin patch it quite yet. I think Aaron would kill me with all my complaining. :)

No, Virginia, there is no Halloween...

Well we have been in our house now for a month or so...and haven't made much progress with it, lol. Nothing that we have seems to FIT. :( oh well..that just means I get to shop!!
School has been better the past week or so for Nate. Well, he is actually on Fall Break right now (which is INCREDIBLY hard on him AND us!) but the week before break went well. We "won" our fight with theschool district regarding Nate's IEP and overall safety. He will now have an aide as well as numerous one on one therapies a week. I mean, here is what it comes down to, if you ask me. My son is. for all intensive purposes, non-verbal. He has no real words of his own. Yes, he can label and yes he can script (and I am incredibly grateful as he has such an amazing voice) but the functional communication is not there...and until that day comes, he will receive every ounce of speech therapy I can squeeze out of the district. He will now receive 3 sessions of speech, on different days, of one on one therapy in addition to all of the group sessions he receieves. I am happy with this. For now, lol. ...and this is just in the area of speech therapy. Don't get me starte don the rest. :)
Anyway- we won. They caved on all issues and agreed with my requests (see:demands).woot woot!
Nate also has stopped getting hurt at school. Finally. He still has scars on his face from Lil' Wolverine, but he will survive. It gives him street cred.
On to Miss Neve. She is still doing great. Her new thing is that she has renamed our entire family. We all live in Gabbaland now. She is Muno. I am Foofa. Nate is Brobee. Aaron is Plex. Grandma is Toodee. ..and of course Glenn the cat is DJ Lance Rock. SHE named us all and it's pretty funny. I love her little imagination. Here are some fun pics of her fromteh other day. She liked gettingher picture taken and Nateman doens't. :( I wish I could get more pics of my handsome guy, but I hate torturing him. He whines when the camera comes out so I stop pushing it. Anyway, in case you were wondering why he isn't in many pictures...

Halloween is on the way. Neve is so excited to dress up. Nate just wants to wear normal clothes..so we will do our best. :)

Our neighborhood is beyond lame. It is an LDS neighborhood that refuses to celebrate Halloween as it falls on a Sunday. Lovely. I am not really sure what our backup plan is yet. Maybe we should hit up Leisure World (aka Seizure World), which is the retirement community near us. I am out of options. I used to love Halloween. We miss home.

No Place Like Home

We have finally moved into our "real" house and we are no longer staying at the rental house. Phew! That was a VERY long six weeks. This home was not our first choice, but we are making it work. We were in contract on a short sale home for about 4 months when the seller backed out. EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING as we had basically a day to buy a new home. So- here we are! We will make the best of it and hopefully it will feel like home to us soon.

School update:

Well, I suppose you have to take the good with the bad, right?

The good is that Neve is thriving in preschool. She loves it SO much and CANNOT wait to go back after each class. I volunteered in her room last Tuesday for the first time and I was just so proud of her. She is a great listener, helper, worker, and friend. She even teaches the class sign language every week during "letter of the week" time. I am proud to say she knows the entire alphabet in English and in Sign Language. Go, Neve! ...and to think we had doubts about sending her so young..tsk tsk. This weekend was her turn to bring home "Curly" the class puppet pet. We took Curly on a few outings today too. We documented it with pictures and there is a journal that we write in and paste pictures of our adventures. Neve just loves Curly!

The "bad", or maybe I should say the "challenge" is Kindergarten for Nate. I will say that it is ever-so-slightly better...but not by much. I wish it was just ONE thing we could focus on, but it's a whole combination of things. First, all of the changes Nate has gone through these past few months are hard on anyone, let alone a child with processing problems. Second, there is a safety issue. We have been called by the school nurse FIVE TIMES in four weeks due to bodily injury to Nate. Alarmed? I am to say the least and I am making sure the entire school hears about it until he is safe. Apparently there is a child in his class with behavioral issues (well, join the club) that is taking it out directly on Nate. Trust me, I get it -to a degree. Nate is no angel and has no clue how to keep his "hands to himself". BUT, there is a huge difference. Nate pinches. Nate pushes slightly. Nate attempts to scratch hands. This is 99% of the time directed at a teacher, therapist, or aide that is attempted to redirect Nate to the task at hand and he is lashing out, in protest, the way he knows- physically. This child has left multiple bite marks on Nate's chest on multiple occasions- breaking the skin and bruising him horribly. This child clawed down Nate's face by his eye leaving Wolverine-type marks and completely tore open the skin in long gashes--I am assuming nail clipping is a challenge in their household by the looks of the marks.

So anyway, this is all an obvious concern to us as to HOW it keeps happening and why the proper supervision is NOT in place as outlined in our current IEP. Plus, I can't help but think that a bit of Nate's anxiety at school could be out of fear of this kid. Wouldn't you hate school if you left school bleeding every week? I would!!!!!!

SO- we are in the process of making sure Nate's safety is a bigger concern for everyone involved. :) If that doesn't work, Nate will just have to carry protection. Ever see an Autistic kid with a stun gun?? I kid, I kid....

To top of Nate's lovely school situation, we still have yet to agree on an IEP. The school tried to push me a bit..but they will give in. I am sure of it. I don't drop this stuff easily....and I have reasoning behind everything I say..just try me, Greenfield. :)

Other than all of that, we are surviving. We have hit a few parks during the wee morning hours when it's only 105, ha!, gone to a few indoor bounce houses, and had a gazillion smoothies. :) We miss the rental house pool as we had such a blast there everyday after dinner. I know Aaron is plotting how to get a pool at our new house too... 

This morning we took the kids for haircuts. Nate is a pro since he goes every 2-3 weeks, so no problem there. This was Neve's first real haircut though. We took her once when she was a baby for a bang trim- and that was AWFUL. She really flipped out back then. This time was a completely different story though. Neve loved it so much. She was really good and was super excited for sparkles in her hair. :) We also now realize that her curls are here to stay. I, in the back of my mind, thought they MIGHT be baby curls and once we cut them off, it would come in straight. Um, no such luck. Her loaf curled up even tighter like an old lady's perm. Hahahahahha! She is darling and will grow into the curls someday, I know ! Mom just doesn't know how to deal with curly hair!!! My hair is PAINFULLY straight.

We HAVE enjoyed being closer to Grandma Ding. Neve just loves her so..and looks forward to her visits so they can play school and such. It's very cute. We are still terribly homesick though. I certainly miss MY friends and didn't realize how much I looked forward to seeing them in person..but it's so sad to watch Neve on the computer looking at photographs of her friends and saying, "Can Lucy come play house with me?". Breaks my heart.

I guess that about sums it up from here. This next week will be busy with IEP meetings and such. Good times. :) I will try and load more house pictures too. It's a, eh, um, work in progress.

The Wild West

Talk about change, lordy! I have no clue how these two little ones are doing it because I am a mess!
Leaving our home in Ohio was incredibly sad and such a whirlwind. We stayed in a hotel, first time for both kids since Nate was an infant, and flew out first thing the next morning. Neve loved every second of it all- from her big bed at teh hotel, to rolling her Dora backpack through the airport, to flying on the airplane. Nate, on the other hand, had a rough go of things, Overall he did fantastic, but the actual plane ride was hard. He HATED the seatbelt and that he had to be contained.That made takeoff and landing difficult, but otherwise the plane ride was fairly smooth. he even used the bathroom on the plane and I would have thought for sure he would be freaked out by that- that thing scares me!
We are now in a rental house, awaiting the closing of our new home at the end of August (fingers crossed). Things have been hard here- especially sleeping. Nate is confused and scared and I can't really blame him. he isn't the type of kid that rolls with things. Then, to add more to his plate, he started school. We had planned on sending him 5 days a week, part time from 8:30-12:30...BUT the schedule was announced for the typical kindergarten kids and all of their "specials" like art, computers, etc are at the very end of the day from 2:30-3:25. This is Nate's only time to be integrated with the typical children so we need to send him all day. *gulp*  7 hours is a LONGGGG day --for Nate AND for Mom and Dad. We will see how it goes.
On a brighter note, the kids have been loving the pool. It's nice to find something we can all do in the 110 degree weather!!
I am taking pictures but do not have a PC at the rental house so I will upload them soon..for now, here are some pics from my cell phone!

Full steam ahead

The school year is coming to an end..we have one more week of school until my baby is officially a preschool grad and it's on to summer school, then kindergarten, then college. :)

IEP has not been officially signed by me since I am very particular about wording. It's all in the details. :) Everything has been agreed to, so now they just need to write it to my satisfaction.

I am posting a video of Nate drawing on his magnadoodle. It has FINALLY clicked that he can draw actual pictures- woo-hoo! We are thrilled. We have been working on a person, tree, house, etc.. and he is flying through them all. Go NATEMAN!