what a difference a week makes!

whew! this past week has gone by so fast, and now summer's almost over.

ivy finished up her swimming, and all this week has been asking if it's time for swimming! lol i was definitely ready for it to be over, after 5 days a week, for 6 weeks. she starts up kindergarten, right after Labor Day. conveniently, that's when collin's preschool also starts up. if anyone has any suggestions on how to get her to wake up earlier/go to bed earlier so she can get to school on time, without sleeping in, i would LOVE to hear about that! we have just shy of 2 weeks.

andrew has moved out of his crib to the futon mattress & bottom bunk bed. the futon mattress is on the floor. when i put him in the bottom bunk bed, he climbs down and goes to the futon mattress. i took the crib apart late last week, so we could have more walking room in the boys' room. he doesn't seem to prefer either while being put down to sleep(for naps & bedtime). he will literally not sleep at nap & stay up late at bedtime--rather cuddle than sleep in a "bigger boy" bed, which is making me rethink this choice. ivy moved from her crib to the futon mattress when she was about 18 months, since collin was going to need it(they're 20 months apart). i don't remember how old collin was when he moved out of the crib. i think close to the same age, because he kept climbing out. something i'll have to check with @ andrew's dr. visit today.

i've been busy cleaning & rearranging our patio--to make room for a new to us treadmill(used, on craigslist, so i can run/jog/walk in the mornings before everyone gets up, after tom's deployed).

our desk, lovingly dubbed "the bomb shelter" got the boot, after about 8 years. we got it a little bit after we were married, from one of tom's uncles. we call it the "bomb shelter", since it is built very sturdy, all metal, and weighed easily over 200 lbs. it was a lot of work, but i managed to get it out of the house to the front yard w/the help of a dolly...then a branch on the peach tree bumped it, and it fell upside down. this was all while tom was at work. i stuck a couple "Free" signs on it. i was very surprised i didn't hear whoever got it(just since it's like a 2-3 person job to move it), but it was gone within a couple hours of me putting it out there. today my arms are bruised from it. the "bomb shelter" got replaced with a small file cabinet that's sitting on a metal frame w/wheels--much easier to move.

i need to go thru photos today, but i bet i have one of the "bomb shelter". this is its replacement:




the new to us treadmill took some work getting into the house. fortunately, the missionaries were riding past our house, while we were trying to call around last night to see who could help us unload it out of the van. we had to got thru the side gate to the backyard, and then disassemble some parts first so it could fit thru the door.

i put it back together while tom was watching some of the Olympics, and tried it out this morning while everyone was still sleeping. it's got some good cushioning, so much that when i ran i couldn't feel it in my knees, like i do out on the sidewalks. it's got a spot for me to plug in my mp3 player, so i can listen to music on it's speakers, if i want to. i tried out the fan it has, to help cool me down when i was sweating buckets. anyway, i'm excited for this. gives mommy a little more energy & makes her a lot less grumpy.

Andrew

I'm starting to learn how to take short video clips w/our digital camera. Andrew was a very willing guinea pig. :) He's just started up his Speech Therapy a couple weeks ago. They're working on a few sign language signs, and car/animal sounds. The signs he's mastered so far are "all done", "more"(he already knew those 2 before the speech therapy, from mealtimes), "open", and "want." Still working on "help" and "thank you". He was working on "please", but "want" was much easier for him to sign.

At the very end of this video clip, he's signing "want." Sorry the clip is so short. We had to change the batteries in the camera, after about 15 seconds of starting. Anyway, he's such a ham & loves the camera.

Happy 4th birthday Collin!

Collin's birthday was on Saturday. We sang "Happy Birthday"--his hands were flapping very fast(a sign of super excitement in autistic children), and Ivy blew out all but one candle. I'm not quite sure why she did that, since it's not her birthday. I put the cake back on the counter to re-light the candles, and just the angle I used to set it on the counter relit them. Collin did blow them out on his own(I helped a little, after realizing he was having a hard time with it--my fault. I had put candles in the middle of the cake instead of closer to him).


For presents he got the Hungry, Hungry Hippos game from my mom. All of us are loving it! He also got the "Cootie" game, where you build bugs, a few train tracks(so he can make a full loop for his trains), and these army vehicles(conveniently came with 3 little guys, worked out nice). I would say he likes the army toys the best!


Ivy likes it that Collin's got a few presents where they can play together.

Tom's job

Tom interviewed for his current job yesterday morning. A few other people were interviewing for the job too. But Tom was offered the job late afternoon & accepted.

Well scratch that for now...

The county didn't fax the speech therapist the contract or our contact info, so no therapy for Andrew today. Maybe next week, if the county's Regional Center can get their act together.

We do have something to look forward to tomorrow though, besides my juggling the boys while Ivy swims(lots of sarcasm there--today was a disaster). The Shipleys are in town & we're going to meet up with them. Ivy's excited. Collin will be too, he's been wanting to go to the park since early this morning.

Quick update

We had an 5.4 magnitute earthquake here on Tuesday(originally it was labeled as 5.8, then downgraded to 5.6 and then 5.4). We're okay. It was pretty strong, and I could see the house moving, but the earthquake only knocked a couple things down. It broke a piece of my see-thru ruler that I use with the rotary cutter for sewing. It already had a small crack in it before Tuesday. Nobody really asked us about it or if we were okay, no surprise there, but I did call Mom to let her know we were okay. Collin was at school, on his way to a swimming field trip, and was apparently fine since we got no phone call from his school.

Ivy's been taking swimming lessons, 2 weeks long each class. She's finally moving up to the next class(whales) tomorrow. It took 4 (crab) classes--between this summer & last summer, but she's now putting her face in the water. That's all that was holding her back from the whale class. Tomorrow is the start of her last 2 weeks of swimming this year.

Ivy's favorite is the back float. She is the most relaxed in her class & will stay there the longest.

Yay!!

One night we found her asleep in her swimming goggles!

We noticed today she is getting a 3rd molar.

Andrew's starting up some Speech Therapy tomorrow. He's mainly saying "da" and "hi there". Has never said "mama," "baba," or "papa". Andrew qualifies for free services from the county based on Collin's diagnosis, and his(Andrew's) 37% delay in expressive language(his talking).

Collin started full-time potty-training, and wore underwear his last week of school. It's been interesting, especially since he hardly verbally says when he needs to go. He will take himself to the bathroom at home, and is tall enough that he can hop himself up without much trouble. Sometimes he starts stripping down wherever he is, and we remind him to get to the bathroom fast. Today was his first full day at home & church in underwear. He did rather well, and kept them dry all day.

Boys' room

Not entirely finished yet, but here are some pics: