Dear Daddy

Well Daddy, if I could talk I would have told Mommy that going to our little Mommy and Me class this morning was probably not a good idea.

She is that way she gets when only she can say she is crabby because if you say it, WATCH OUT and we had already used up lots of her patience before she even pulled out of the driveway and you know how Mommy thinks our teacher is a has-been preschool teacher who cannot get a job anywhere because she is a little on the obnoxious side and she never stops talking and asking questions that are none of her business?  Well I knew that this would not be a good day for Mommy to be in the same room as Mrs. Nevershutsup but she packed us up and took us anyway.

We did pretty good at school.  We made hand print turkeys and all the sudden I said a word.  It was  "YAY" and I was so happy with that word that I said it and said it and said it while I emptied every bin in the room.   McKenna sat a little close to kids that were not Parker today and Parker, he had ants in his pants as usual and Mommy had to hold him by the foot to keep a little bit of him at circle time but other than that no problems.  (Yay!)

But Mrs. Nevershutsup?  She was over the top today.  She was always talking in one of Mommy's ears while Mommy was trying to listen to us with the other.  She pried too much about Sissy and about your work and told Mommy stories that she could have lived her whole life just fine without hearing.  I knew we were in trouble once Mommy stopped talking to anyone over three feet tall and her eye started to twitch a little.

When it was time to leave I let Mommy put my coat on real fast so we could get out of there.  But Daddy, Mrs. Nevershutsup did not take a hint.  She FOLLOWED Mommy to the car and I knew we were headed for trouble.  She said she was helping but she just kept asking Mommy more none-of-her-business questions and I could hear Mommy thinking to herself that she should be nice and thankful that this woman was trying to help but Mommy decided she would be thankful for Parker and our automatic doors because he will push any button in front of him.  So Mommy got us in the car and put Parker by all those buttons and he pushed away and left Mrs. Nevershutsup out there in the parking lot asking us how much our van costs and why Mommy doesn't learn to sew so she can make our Christmas clothes.

Mommy knew she should open that door back up but she just could not do it.  She got us in our seats and climbed into hers and did her fakey-nice smile and waved to Mrs. Nevershutsup whose mouth was still moving outside that window.

One more place we can't go back to Daddy... but it was all Mommy this time.

Good thing you have a few days off this week, I'm sticking with you til Mommy's patience comes back.

Yay!, (had to get it in there one more time)

Sawyer

Parker being a turkey

McKenna with her turkeys (no picture of me, I hit the crib before Mommy lost the last of her mind)

Change, change, change

We have had lots of changes in our house lately and I have had a few requests for updates on various subjects so here we go...

Toddler beds:

We put the beds up.

They played.

McKenna repeated "don't want to sleep in a big girl bed" 3 million times.

Mark put her crib back up.

Nights are great but short, naps are nonexistent.

Yesterday I entered their room to find Parker climbing McKenna's crib while she had him in a headlock and he had her by the hair, both screaming themselves hoarse.

The sibling love I had always envisioned.

Parker in his big boy bed (railing followed the next day)

McKenna:

McKenna has been doing pretty well.  She has slowly rebounded from her health scare in the spring but has never returned back to full strength.  She goes to physical therapy weekly and has braces on her feet and ankles which she tolerates really well (the fact that they are pink helps immensely).  We have also noticed that whenever she is sick or overtired that her muscle weakness along with some OCDish behavior come back which concerns her doctors but at this point we are taking a little vacation from all of the medical tests.  

The poor girl has been through enough.

High school:

Ashlyn is doing the best that Ashlyn can.  The adjustment to the expectations of high school have been tough to say the least.  She goes to school each day trying her hardest and that is all I can ask for.  

In the meantime I will continue to dream about winning the lotto so that I can create my own school that  works for her and the many other kids with autism who struggle through their education.

Ashlyn on her way to scoring a well-deserved goal at her soccer game.

P.90x:

I am on week 4.  I love the program and have seen results really quickly BUT my exercise schedule depends on the fact that my children actually sleep (see "Toddler beds").

I may be on week 4 for a while.

Lastly, I put the kids in a Mommy & Me (& Me & Me) class and they did great.  I was thrilled to find a class that would even include Sawyer.  They all surprised me with how well they did and the teacher kept commenting on how well behaved they are.  They were only good because they were in shock by all of the activity (we don't get out much) but I took the compliment and ran.  I'm looking forward to their weeks to come in the class, hoping Parker and McKenna will come out of their shells a little bit and that Sawyer will stop eating the glue sticks.

The best picture I could get of the three of them on their first day of "school"