Kiddo Update

Hi all,

Can't believe tomorrow is May already! How did life get so crazy, and I don't even have kids in full time school yet!?! Whew!

Well, I just wanted to give everyone a little update on the kiddos.

MJ-Mackenzie is doing great in preschool and continuing to get better at reading all the time. Her teachers are so complimentary of her. Not only is she doing well academically, but she's been a friend to her classmates and is very helpful too. She is really excited about kindergarten. Her final Honey Bears is on May 15. She can't wait because they get to ride the bus. She finishes up swimming lessons tonight and has done really well with that. Preschool graduation is May 19. Afterward is a gymnastics presentation. She has really enjoyed going to the gym and library a couple times a month with her preschool class. She is becoming even more independent all the time and I see my little girl slipping away. It makes me a little sad thinking she's closer to age six then five. But, it is also neat to see her blossom into her own. MJ starts tball in May too, but I don't have a schedule yet.

Emma-Our little E. Oh, what can I say, she keeps me on my toes! She's busy as ever, her speech is really coming along well and she just seems to be growing up so much. I can't believe our baby girl will be 3 on Tuesday!! I met with the school district on Tuesday to determine what services would best serve Emma as she finishes up her speech therapy next week. After her speech and developmental evaluations, she qualifies for continued speech therapy services through the school. She was well within and above average on all the other developmental milestones compared to her peers. In fact, gross motor skills were a whopping 97 percent! No surprise there. Areas we're working to improve are expressive language and articulation. She is really getting the hard sounds, like t, k, p, m, d, but sounds like s and z still give her trouble. But it seems each new day brings news sounds, words and phrases. Her current therapist recommended individual speech therapy, as well as enrollment in a classroom setting. Josh and I had discussed that having her in a classroom would be good for her too. After talking to the school therapist and preschool teacher, it was decided to put her in the classroom two days a week. She starts on Wednesday! I think she's going to do great, although it is a little hard to think about her being in school already. But language is so vital to everything else she'll need to learn later, like reading, writing and communicating with others, that we want to give her all the opportunities we can to help her succeed. At this point, she will attend the preschool at the elementary school through the end of May. Then, the plan so far is to send her to the preschool MJ attends right now. That session will be about six weeks long. Emma will then go back to the elementary school preschool for the 2009-2010 school year. She won't be tested again until a year from now. At that time, we'll make more decisions about continued services, etc. This is not a struggle I would have wanted for her, but she is progressing so well. Seeing her have this challenge has helped me be more patient and really helped me step back and not compare my children. Each one of them is so unique and special in their own way. I am thankful though all of the kids are really healthy and we don't have anything more major to worry about with them.
She also finishes swimming lessons tonight. She is quite strong-willed and I am sure that will be an attribute later on in life, at least I hope. Last night, I had to use a little reverse psychology on her. She can do everything her teacher asks-float on her back, big arms, kick, go under, jump, blow bubbles. However, she was choosing not to do any of it. She kept saying, "All done." In a moment of weakness or genius (not sure what), I said, "I don't think you can kick, blow bubbles, etc." She looked at me and said, "I can!" Then, she preceded to do everything the teacher asked. Now, I don't usually tell my children they can't do something (unless they are getting in trouble), but in this case it was what worked for her. She is definitely independent and has a mind of her own.

Jayten-Our sweet little boy! Oh, we love him so much. I was so nervous about having a boy, but at least so far he is just the sweetest baby. Now, who knows what he'll be like in two years (!!?!!), but for now I'm going to just hold him and love on him because he is definitely growing faster than my heart can take. He'll be 3 months on Sunday!! I'm sure he's weighing close to 14 lbs. now. He's a great eater and good sleeper. We've had a few nights where he's slept from 9:30 pm to 6:30 am. Sometimes he's only up once. We moved the girls into their crib at 3 months old, but I am having a hard time thinking about moving him. He'll only be next door to our room, but I don't mind having him close by in the bassinet. Although, he's about to outgrow it anyway!

Well, I think that's about it for now.

I hope to post photos soon. I have a lot, just need some uninterrupted time. :)