Time with Kathryn

Friday morning, my sister-in-law called to see if I could watch my niece, Kathryn, because the daycare lady had the stomach bug we've all suffered through. I only had her for 4ish hours but it was really easy! She ate, she played and she would have napped if I had somewhere to put her! I documented her morning w/us just for fun. :)  I did get Samuel in a picture but he's wearing just undies, like usual, so he didn't make the blog cut.  He did better with 2 young ones in the house than he usually does with just his little brother.  He enjoyed being the "big kid".

Nathan was pretty interested in that thing in her mouth.  Poor girl was so tired but she'd just zone out for a bit and pop right back up to play.

My Dad stopped by on his lunch hour and kept us company.  There's a competitive spirit between these 2 grandbabies!  They both want Papa's attention!

Brian's Retreat

After the holidays, Brian and I began attending a new church called Encounter Christian Church for a variety of reasons. It's been a lot of fun (and a big change) to be a part of a smaller group of believers. Brian decided to attend the men's retreat they had a week ago. The kids and I had a good time while he was gone (although, we also got ourselves exposed to the stomach flu of 2011) but were very happy to have him home!! This video is something the pastor put together and I thought Brian's parents and in-laws might enjoy seeing it! :)

Curly

Hunter's Eyes

So, in November, I took Hunter and Lily for their annual eye exam and Dr. Winter noticed that Hunter's eyes were not tracking quite right.  She was pretty relaxed about it but talked to me about vision related learning disorders and their symptoms.  It sounded quite a bit like what we were experiencing with Hunter this school year so we made an appointment for him to be tested.  They only do this on Thursday mornings so I let him take a day off of school.  We were at the eye place from 10:10am-noon, went out to eat at Red Robin until 1pm and then back to the eye place from 1-2pm.  It was an exhausting and emotional day--but it didn't help that they had me watch these touching yet sad success stories of children who had been affected by these vision issues and had overcome them!!!

I had asked to speak to Dr. Winter about Hunter's results without Hunter in the room so he played out in the waiting room (yes, alone, which is pretty shocking for me) and I got to go through all his results.  It's quite overwhelming but the bottom line is that he failed the tests for focus changing, tracking and depth perception.  Out of 13 tests, he passed 3-4 of them.  So, a whole slew of problems that we knew nothing about because his vision had always been age appropriate (about 20/25).  I felt horrible because he's been in tutoring and extra work at night and etc. when the real issue has been a physical inability to see things well enough to read/comprehend them.  

So, in a few weeks he will start vision therapy.  He goes once a week for 30 minutes for 18-24 weeks.  We will also do therapy at home every night.  His glasses are a "crutch" to get him through while his eyes are improving with therapy.  They are bifocals (blended so it's not noticeable--yes, I was a sucker and paid extra $ for that) with clear glass in the top and prescription plus prisms in the bottom to help him with reading and writing and the like.  Dr. Winter said that she's not always able to tell parents that the visual issues are affecting school performance but with Hunter, she has no doubt that it is one big piece of the puzzle.  And, I don't care if he's the top, middle or bottom of his class...it's just been the struggle and not knowing how to help him.  So, I feel very hopeful as we begin this new eye journey!!

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Today is Samuel's 4th birthday and we had everyone home all day to celebrate because of the blizzard. He had a Thomas the Train them this year and seemed to enjoy everything. He opened his presents by 8:30am and played with them all day long. It was a lot of fun!

Everyone enjoyed the cake and ice cream (everyone is in pajamas due to the snow day)!

I didn't let the kids out in the snow while Brian and his Dad snowblowed because it was freezing.  Brian took pity on them when he was done and got them out for a bit.  They were thrilled but ready to come in!!

Lots of snow!!

My sweet boy...4 years ago and today.  He's quite a character and cracks us up but he's a very strong willed little man.  Samuel is so loving--wants to be around me and kisses me all the time.  Maybe what Samuel is best known for is his habit of going without clothes (but he does wear underwear!).  I don't know how he does it because I'm freezing all day long but that's his way.  :)