Tales from my life as a mom of 2 sons and 2 daughters

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Cheli On Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Yesterday River went to a speech therapist to have an evaluation done. The pediatrician was concerned that he wasn't saying enough words yet. She said that he should be saying 8 words or more clearly enough that a stranger could understand what he was saying.. he isn't. So we went for the evaluation. She asked about 100 questions, played some with River, and decided that he isn't very speech delayed by their standards and said that normally she wouldn't even recommend seeing him yet but wait until he turned 2 to see if there is an improvement but because of his extensive history with ear infections she thought it might be a good idea to give him a little push now, just in case. So she wants to see him twice a week for the next month and see how he is doing at that time. She gave us a few pointers on what we could do to help him talk more and we've been implementing those suggestions at the house and have asked the daycare to do the same. She said that the temper tantrums he throws are probably mostly due in part to frustration which is normal with any pre-language child and that the techniques she is going to teach him and us will help dramatically with the outbursts... that would be much appreciated. It appears my son has inhereited my temper :)

We are adding dairy into River's diet slowly but surely. He is pretty much on any dairy product in moderation except for MILK itself. He still gets Soy for that and I am very much debating going half and half next week with the milk to see how he does with it. I've also thought about just leaving him with the Soy until he turns 2 and then phasing him over to reduced fat milk at 2. Or maybe just leaving him with soy permenantly. Isn't it supposed to be better for them anyway? Hmmm.....

I got fluffy mail (ie cloth diapers) in the mail today. I've been waiting on the package for almost a week so I was delighted to recieve it. It was 3 dozen prefolds that I ordered through a co-op which means they were an extremely good price for brand new prefolds. We now have a grand total of 2 dozen preemie prefolds and 2 dozen infant prefolds. I think I might need another dozen of each before I'm done. I've decided we're going to go with Kissaluv proraps for the newborn stage with this one. They have cut outs for the umbilical cord and are supposed to have a really trim fit. Once she/he goes to smalls we're going to more than likely go exclusively with WWB covers from then on. I REALLY liked the WWB covers prints and the way they worked. I'm going to buy the proraps sometime soon as those are gender neutral but I'm going to wait on the smalls until I know the sex of the baby.

I went today for an NCLEX review at my school. Basically it's just a bunch of NCLEX questions that we discuss as a group to understand the test taking strategies that would work best on the test. I found out that once we recieve the letter of reciept of information we should recieve our approval to test with in about 2 weeks. I recieved mine last week. So essentially I could be testing for the NCLEX sometime next week or the week after. YAY!!!!!! Then I can start working! YAY!!!!!!!!

In other exciting news.. if we can figure out a way to swing it, we'll be coming up to the K-ville area for Yule this year. I'm really hoping we can figure out a way to be up there for a Saturday night so Doug and I can show up at Temple's new venue and see everyone. WE MISS YOU ALL!!!!!! And if not, we'll be making rounds up there to meet up with everyone so if we don't have your number and you want to get together drop us a line before then :)

Cheli On Tuesday, August 28, 2007
WOOO HOOOOO 13 weeks today... I am officially in my 2nd trimester!!!!
Cheli On Sunday, August 26, 2007

This post is gonna be huge...

We went to a place called O2BKids yesterday (go to o2bkids.com for more info) It's basically an indoor play center. They have a toddler room, a costume room, a kitchenette room, a wall climbing apparatice for the big kids, a building zone with legos and block and lincoln log type things, educational computers, rooms for art and science activities, and then a big room called "the big toy" which is basically an indoor jungle gym type thing. It was pretty awesome. It was 8 dollars for the baby to have all day access and Doug and I got in free as his chaperones. We were able to leave to take him home for lunch and a nap and then come back for another few hours. All and all I think we spent a good 4 hours there. :) We took LOTS of pics...

Here is daddy and River coming out of the slide (the slide goes from the top of the climbing center *4 floors* all the way to the ground. It's a twisty slide. River wanted to go again and again and by the end of the day could figure out how to get all the way up to it by himself (as long as he had one of us to help lift him up the landings that he wasn't quite tall enough for.

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River on the second floor of the climbing toy looking down at mommy.

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In the toddler room, I just liked the picture for the picture of his eyes, he looks goofy LOL

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Playing with one of the toys in the toddler room.

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Deep in concentration about some activity.. I liked the way the picture came out

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River and Daddy. I think daddy had as much if not MORE fun than River did LOL

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River standing inside of a smaller climbing area. The area is called the "Book Nook"and older kids during the weekly after school program can go in there with a book and just read... River was climbing all over it

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Looking through the window at mommy

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Playing with daddy from the top of the book nook.

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Standing at the top of the stairs in the book nook. The stairs are just his size and he was able to practice going up and down them on his own :)

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Inside the climbing apparatice on the 3rd floor, scaling the wall (it's on about a 45 degree incline, he was coming back down)

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Playing with a few of the toys in the toddler room until we had to take them away because he was swinging them around LOL

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Collecting toys :)

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Trying to figure out how to get into the box of toys... he ended up bringing it to mommy to have it opened..

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Playing with legos at the legos station

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Various shots of the baby inside the climbing center :)

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Cheli On Friday, August 17, 2007

I did it !! I did it!! I am offically a nursing school graduate or a practical nurse :) Yesterday I went in for my last final. I got a 98 on the final and a 97 over all in the class. My final GPA is 3.76 :) Last night was the pinning and capping ceremony for the program. We read the Nurse's Prayer and the Nightengale Pledge and we get our Practical Nurse pin and a nursing cap and our lamp lit. It was a beautiful ceremony. I got pictures and I'll post them as soon as I can figure out how to do it on the lap top. It went beautifully. I'll go back every Wednesday for an hour or two for NCLEX review until sometime in mid to late September when I take my national boards for my license. Then I'll have to wait 48 hours to find out if I passed. That is going to be a LONG 48 hours LOL. But anyway... 13 months and I am finally done. YAY!!!!

River turned 18 months old last Saturday. Where the heck did the time go??? He went for his 18 month check up on Monday. He is 27 lbs even and 33 1/2 inches tall. It puts him in the 75% percentile for his height and weight. :) She said he's gonna be a tall boy. Thank the gods! She said he failed his hearing tests in both ears so she is referring him back to the audiologist for a more in depth hearing test. They have no openings in this month so I need to call them on 27th of the month to schedule an appointment for sometime in September. She is also slightly concerned about his lack of speech. Said he should be talking a bit more than he is. She did say it probably has something to do with all the ear problems he's had in the past but she wants to refer him for a speech evaluation regardless just to make sure there isn't something more going on. So we should be making an appointment with a speech therapist in the next week or so (they will call us) to get him seen. Other than that.. he had one shot. We waived the chicken pox vaccination again. He is done with shots until he turns 4 :) YAY!!

I am feeling okay. Morning sickness is still around. Every other day or so I'm extremely nauseated and throw up a few times in the morning. Fun fun. I'm 11 1/2 weeks. I will start the second trimester on the 28th. And then once I start the second trimester I can start going to get free massages at Doug's school ;) I can't wait!

Doug is loving school. He finished his first mod (class) and has moved on to the second. There is a total of 9 and each last about a month. He finished the last mod with a 96 or so. :) I'm so proud :)

Other than that... life is good :)

Cheli On Saturday, August 11, 2007

We went and got River's 18 month pics done today... wanted to share with everyone :) He turned 18 months old today.

River2 River3 River4 River5 River1

Cheli On Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Hey Everyone,

So it's been a while since I've updated. We ended up having our phone, cable, and internet all shut off last week. *sigh* So I feel like I've entered the dark ages again LOL. I'm currently up at the library checking e-mail and such to keep my accounts from getting full and what not and thought I'd take a moment to update here.

I have a week of school left. But only 3 1/2 days of class of left. :) YAY!!! We filled out our paper work to get approval to test and for our application for a Florida license. They will get sent in next Wednesday :) I'm so excited!

I'm 10 weeks pregnant now. I had a midwife appointment on Monday. Everything looks good currently. I have to go for blood work next week some time for the normal pregnancy screening and such. We listened for the baby's heartbeat and found it, 150's YAY. I go back September 7th for my next appointment. I'll be 14 weeks. I actually feel really good. I got a cold that I've been fighting all week so I've been really tired but the morning sickness seems gone and I feel pretty good.

River is doing good. He is starting to say more words and is showing up how wonderful the terrible 1 1/2's can be :) LOL He'll be 18 months old this weekend and goes for his 18 month check up on Monday.

Doug is loving school and has an interview with AT&T later this week so keep him in your thoughts because the job would be a great break for us for the next few months.

I'll update when I can.