Born To Climb

At least that is what his shirt says. I also noticed that the sign above him reads:

Everything Grows With Love

He just started doing this a couple of weeks ago...and now scales any of the doorways in our house. He can even get to the chin bar we have in one of the door ways, which is something we have used to help him improve his upper body muscle tone. Do you think it's worked?? :0)

The Loophole

It never ceases to amaze me how children can find a loophole in ANY direction we can give them. Somehow, Ethan has become quite excellent at managing the "fine print" of the directions we give him.

For instance...

Lately, he's been feeling a little left out when it comes to sleeping in our bed. Joshua has been doing much better with sleeping elsewhere...namely with his brother in the twin bed. So, when Josh does wake up in the middle of the night to crawl into bed with us, it seems to wake Ethan up. (you know, the boy who can sleep through any thunderstorm or our house alarm going off!)

Naturally, Ethan decides that it must be far better to sleep in bed with mommy, daddy, and Josh than by himself in his own bed. Mind you we wouldn't have a problem with it, if the kid could SLEEP!! When Ethan comes into bed, it doesn't matter the time, he won't stop talking, can't quite get comfortable...and did I mention he doesn't travel lightly. Oh no...blanky, "norma" blanky, kitty, froggy and usually some sort of truck, train, or tractor. Did I also mention we have a queen size bed, I'm 24 lbs. heavier, (and rounder) than normal, and between me and my husband we have around 6 pillows in the bed?? :)

Yes. Over the weekend we converted Ethan's bedroom into a mini "dorm" room as it now has three twin beds in it. (We can't do bunk beds due to our cape style house having the sloping ceilings) So, I told Ethan that he now has two other beds in his room to choose from should he find his less than satisfactory during the night. I told him that he wasn't allowed to crawl into our bed in the middle of the night anymore, and that he could find more suitable sleeping arrangements somewhere else.

The loophole?? I never said he couldn't sleep under our bed. That's right. I discovered Ethan sleeping, with all of his many things, under our bed this morning. When I asked him what he was doing under there, he simply said, "well I was tired and your glider over there just wasn't comfortable anymore"!

When You Can't Beat The Heat...

...eat some ice cream. Well, we used to do this quite a bit more often...before we gave up dairy for the boys. Needless to say "ice cream sundae suppers" have been limited since last summer and the subtraction of dairy from the diet this past winter. We have been on a quest to find the "right" fit for our family as it not only has to be dairy free, but gluten free as well. Most of the soy ice creams have been a bust...both with the kids and myself.

I am an ice cream lover in the summer. I could eat it for just about any meal when it hits the high 80's and 90's as it has these past few days. However, downing a big old bowl of Edy's Slow-Churned in front of my kiddos just isn't fair to them. (Yes, I know I could eat it after they go to bed...but they know how to open the freezer and can recognize the container...just not a battle I want) Plus, I've noticed since cutting most of the dairy out of my diet, (except my recent addiction to Klondike Bars...thanks to the twins!) my asthma with regards to mucous in my lungs hasn't been bad at all! (ya, ya gross!)

I think we've found a winner though. It is made by a company called Turtle Mountain. They have a few product lines that you may be familiar with...So Delicious, and Purely Decadent. They recently came out with a new version of their Purely Decadent line of ice cream that is not only dairy free, but gluten free, AND soy free! And the taste is exceptional. It's called Purely Decadent with Coconut Milk!

Let me show you what Rebekah and Josh thought of it last night...

We tried the chocolate and the vanilla bean...these two LOVED the chocolate. But they also have coconut, mint choc. chip, and cookie dough...all gluten free!! Yeah! As for Ethan...he has a tough time eating extremely cold things, but I don't think he liked the choc. flavor. We'll let him try the vanilla one tonight...but if I can find the mint choc. chip, I know he'll be alright as that is his most favorite ice cream flavor ever!! :)

Name Game

Mike here, I know a rare appearance I know, and I am using capitals (see Cheryl I can use the shift key :) ).

Anyhow Michelle and I have been tossing around names for the boys. We agreed to not use cutsie names so we started to brainstorm. As many of you know name just one can be hard never mind two.

So here is a short list of names that Michelle has axed so far.

Calvin and Hobbes
Romulus and Remus
Pinky and Floyd
Obiwan and Kenobi
Bruce and Wayne
David and Goliath
CJ and TJ (it's a jeep thing)
Smith and Wesson
John and Deere (Ethan's idea not mine)
and last but not rejected names Dunkin and Donuts

I am still pulling for Calvin and Hobbes.

.mike

We've Been Converted

As any one expecting twins finds out...a lot of changes must be made in order to prepare for their arrival. If they are you first kiddos, then you basically need double of everything. If they are your 4th and 5th kiddos, then you may just need to borrow an extra of some things. Thankfully we know a number of people who have very young children and have begun to offer up items like bouncy chairs, swings, pack and play's, etc.

The one thing we didn't realize until we really tried to do it, was how much carseat space we were going to need. We've been driving a Dodge Grand Caravan for a year and a half, and it has been a wonderful vehicle for us as a family. Especially with the Stow n' Go seating, we've been able to have the space necessary to go and do just about anything. However, for those of you who are still in the carseat phase of children, you know just how big those darn things are. We spent over two hours at a dealership trying to find a vehicle that would allow us to get 5 carseats in, and still have room for a stroller, diaper bags, and...um...us! No luck.

Mike tried for another hour and a half, one night last week, to again try different combinations of carseats together. We measured, looked on line for carseats that might be smaller...everything...nothing worked. So, we left it in God's hands...and thanks to the very powerful prayers from my bible study gals...He heard them.

About a week after the carseat fiasco at Bonneville and Son, we got a phone call. A 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Conversion Van had just been traded in, and our sale consultant Dan Reitz, (whom I HIGHLY recommend) snagged it so we could be the first to look at it. Now, I had no idea what a conversion van is, much less driven one. All I could picture was The Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo...well that plus a van that had been on That 70's Show a few times...you know shag carpet, mustard yellow with beige trim and maybe a disco ball...

I didn't know what to think when Dan drove this on to the lot for us to see. My heart skipped a beat as I immediately judged it, saying to myself..."well, it doesn't look as bad as I thought it was going to...maybe this is what we've been waiting for.

The gentleman who traded this in took meticulous care of this vehicle. Bonneville hadn't done anything to it...and it was spotless. It only has 60,000 miles on it, and although Dodge no longer makes these land yachts, were able to tell us quite a bit about this vehicle. First of all a conversion van is designed to fit the buyer. So, the old buyer had it outfitted with a $25,000 conversion package which included a remote starter, indirect lighting, a 17" TV with VCR, two skylights...and many more options that we are still discovering.

Needless to say, Bonneville not only let us walk away from our lease on the minivan...but gave us an unbelievable deal on this mobile living room. Our payments are still where they were before hand, and although we have to avoid parking garages, and most drive-thrus, it is now our new VANOKDS. Before we signed the papers for it, we asked Ethan what he thought about us trading in the minivan for the conversion van. His response..."can we watch the TV??" Ah yes, the TV...don't worry...he still gave the other van a kiss and a hug goodbye right on the hood.

And then there were five...

...Ouellette children that is! As most of you, we had our ultrasound this past Friday...and much to everyone's surprise, we discovered not one healthy baby boy, but two!

Here is the first little guy...the more cooperative baby. The tech was able to get every measurement she needed from him without much trouble. He even held up his little "XY" chromosome for her to see that he is most definitely a boy!

This beautiful baby boy, wasn't quite as cooperative. He kept squirming away whenever she tried to get a good picture of his heart. Fortunately, after much moving around on my part, she finally did...both hearts look great! The boys are measuring exactly the same and seem to be growing well, despite my supposed small size. :)
If you look closely you can see it really is two babies. One baby's head is down in the lower right corner, and his brother's head is located underneath his spine, more centered.

Despite our shock, we couldn't be more thrilled at the prospect of this new adventure. We have been blessed already with three wonderful children...our hearts are excited at receiving TWO more into our family.

See...I told ya!

TROUBLE!! :)

Good thing she's cute...

She is trouble...good thing she's cute! She is sneaky...good thing she's cute!

She has attitude...good thing she's cute!

This little girl keeps me on my toes...she is my daughter...and she IS so darn cute!!

(The latest fashion, worn by EVERY child in the house at different times throughout the day, is the blueberry hat that Bekah is sporting in the picture. Don't be surprised to see it in other pictures on other children!)

Ethan's Endoscopy

We were finally able to get Ethan's endoscopy scheduled and complete yesterday, (Monday)! He did great, and the procedure was very quick. Since we were the first ones scheduled for the day we were in and out and home by 8:45am!! After some much needed breakfast, Bekah and I decided it was girls nap time, so we laid down around 10:30 and woke at 1pm feeling famished!! :) (Everyone was up this morning at 5am...sharp) Those kids have parental radar, so if they notice one parent is not laying still in bed, it means it's time to get up and start the day...even at 5am!

Preliminary results show that, surprisingly, Ethan has a hiatal hernia. We have pictures, which are pretty cool, and they show the opening between his stomach and the end of his esophagus not fully closing due to the hernia, as well as redness and irritation from the acid reflux. Most kids this age are born with it...he certainly hasn't done any heavy lifting. It will, unfortunately, require more reflux meds. for 6-8 weeks to see if we can get rid of the irritation and acid. I don't know anymore about it yet, as she just came in and pointed out the hernia in the pictures. She was surprised to see that there as well, but it could be the explanation for the stomach pain every time he eats. He just isn't able to communicate this to us due to his other issues. We won't be changing his meds. until the biopsies from all of the other areas come back.

The good news is that his villi, which were flattened out due to the celiac disease, are long, tall and waving around fine in his intestinal tract. It means we've been very diligent with his diet and it shows in the healthy response from his gut. She still biopsied that area, as we are looking for other allergen culprits, as well as enzymes present in both the stomach and the intestine. Hopefully the results will be back by Friday!

The Butterfly Chronicles

As most of you know, from a previous post, we were foster parents to two caterpillars named Hermie and Wormie. Since our visit to the Butterfly Place on April 11th, our two caterpillars have gone through some amazing transformations. It was a wonderful way to combine science and nature for Ethan's homeschooling class as well.

Following are some pictures we took along the way, as well as a video at the end with the release of Hermie. Joshua was thrilled at seeing the butterfly "freak out" as I put it, inside the butterfly box when we took him outside into the sunshine. He was less than thrilled, however, when he realized we were actually going to open the box, and release this "deadly creature" into the world. You'll see what I mean on the video.

The other thing to point out is how Ethan hadn't connected the end of this journey with the fact that he would not see Hermie again. We had tried to explain this to him, but as it tends to go, experience is the best teacher. My heart broke for him, but it has been a great lesson to learn. Speaking of broken hearts, we were also able to learn another lesson...this one about death. Wormie didn't make it. He never formed his chrysalis correctly, and when he tried to emerge from it, his wings hadn't fully formed. He died the next day, as he was unable to fly. Very sad, and of course traumatic to a 5 yr.old as he tries to wrap his mind around the finality of it all.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the following pictures and video. We had a great time.

This was the day we brought them home. They were soooo tiny, we had a difficult time photographing them because the flash would bounce off the plastic vile. I'm not sure what kind of food was at the bottom of that container, but it served as their nourishment for the entire time we had them. We didn't need to open it, or pop holes in the top, it was a self contained environment for them.

At the end of the first week, they had more than doubled in size. (I wonder if that food is gluten free, maybe I could feed some of it to my kiddos!) They have a lot of webbing inside the container, and they constantly "shed" their outer layer as they get bigger.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of them at the end of the 2nd week, (which would have been on a Friday), and by the time we got around to taking the picture, (on that Sunday) Hermie and Wormie had decided to move on to the next phase of their lives. They were so big as caterpillars, they filled out most of the container. Simply amazing, that they were able to squish their chubby bodies into these tiny little things. If you look closely, the one on the right is Wormie. he never really finished doing his chrysalis.

Here is Hermie, a week later, freshly emerged from his chrysalis. We couldn't appreciate the beauty of his color as this point, as he was still drying and recuperating after the ordeal of emerging from that tiny home of his. We had to place a cotton ball soaked in a mixture of sugar and water 1:10 ratio. At one point, I checked on him and like he knew what he was supposed to do, he was sitting on top of the cotton ball with his tongue inside drinking up the sugar water.

It took him about two days to dry out and gain some strength. We knew he was ready when he began to "freak out" inside of this box. Ethan loved the term, and now uses it constantly. Anyhow, Hermie didn't really freak out until we brought him outside into the bright sunshine. His instincts told him this was what he wanted, and boy did he want out! I was surprised that I actually got this shot of him, because for the most part, he wouldn't stop fluttering around long enough to see the beautiful colors on those wings.

Joshua's Therapy

Joshua had his new therapist come to the house today. Ironically, we knew her before as she lives on the street behind us, and is very good friends with some good friends of ours, the Deludes, (aka: a Ruffing)

Her name is Jen, and Josh clicked with her right away. In watching the way he was interacting I began to notice something. He had changed in the two weeks since he'd seen the other therapist. Jen hadn't seen Josh before, but from reading through his info. made note of the change as well. His vestibular motor problems seemed to have "caught up" to where he should be for his age. I told her we had been doing more "work" with him with regards to getting him on the swing outside, using the trampoline inside, and giving him some time in the kidney bean box we have in our living room. Mike has also been doing more physical rough housing with Josh like putting him up in the air, and swinging him around...a reason why Mike himself is probably still in PT! :)

Jen also told us that it could account for his more aggressive, and temperamental behaviors over the past few weeks. Sometimes when one area of a child's senses are changing and growing, other areas become "stressed", causing new behaviors that can be temporary...as long as we stay on top of it. Although it's been tough to go through, I was glad to hear of this possibility. He HAS been very aggressive. Bekah, Ethan and I have been taking the brunt of it...usually hitting, kicking, biting, and body slamming. Bekah is going to be a, (as a friend of mine put it), pretty little girl you don't want to mess with! :) Heheheh...watch out boys!

In the meantime we have some more tricks up our sleeves to help him with this growing adjustment that is going on in his body. We look forward to more whistles, blowing straws and flutes to help develop his lung strength and facial muscles, as well as more of the aggressive behavior as we try to help him through all this. At least for know, Jen feels fairly confident that we are looking at his issues being Sensory Integration in nature. We both feel that developmentally he will catch up quickly, which will help with regards to teaching him some coping skills for the sensory issues he does have. It does mean that come July 4th, when he turns 3, we will be looking for outside therapy's in the areas of OT and speech, but since those are services Ethan is already receiving, we hope to get Joshua in to see the same ones that see Ethan.

Amara Rose

I'd like to introduce my newest niece...Amara Rose Yvette Karlosky! She was born today at CMC, very quickly, at 1:11pm...only 41 minutes after Sherry's water broke!!! She weighs in at 7lbs. 4.5oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. She has long black hair...more than Rebekah does now!

Sherry was amazing. She's been in labor for several days, and at her appt. on Friday was told she was 2 1/2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. When she called me this morning I could tell from her voice that this was it. She came over with Jack and labored for a little while longer, but the contractions were coming fast and furious. I brought her over to CMC around 11am, where her friend Kathy met her, and Mark came from work about 20 min. later. I then made it back over there (after finding out that she was 6cm and 100% effaced), with a quick call to Mike to come home and take care of the kiddos. Good timing, I made it right around 12:30 as they were moving her back to the bed...and then she was here! It was amazing.

Welcome to the world little girl!

The Past Few Days...

...have been very interesting!

My poor boy Ethan had a difficult week last week. I was on the phone with the docs. most of the week trying to figure out how to help him with his stomach pain and lack of BM's. We ended up having an x-ray of his abdomen done and found out that he was about 3/4 of the way constipated... right down into his rectum. (graphic I know...but it is what it is) So, we had a choice, enema or 2-3 days of increased dosage of his laxative. The enema would be quick and uncomfortable, the laxative would be slow, crampy, gassy, and uncomfortable. We bribed Ethan with a Popsicle and did the first of two enemas on Thursday. It didn't clear him out as much as we'd hoped, so the second enema came on Friday...that one worked...boy did it ever. Poor kid! On, Saturday night, he started eating again. So far we've had two good days of eating, but tonight we were back to belly pain, and no BM at all. Still waiting for the appt. for his endoscopy...needless to say I'm getting impatient.

During all of this, however, Ethan remains a trooper. Thursday was such a beautiful day, that following his enema, I put a diaper on him just in case, and we went outside to enjoy the sun. I was hoping that the running around would help the medicine along a bit.

It was Rebekah's first time outside using her new skill of walking. She took to it like she'd been doing it the whole time. In fact, she joined the boys in throwing, jumping into, and destroying my leaf pile. They were all absolutely filthy when it was time to go in, which was awesome.

On Friday, we had a field trip. The homeschooling group I am a part of does organized field trips here and there. This one was to The Butterfly Place down in Westford MA. Ethan was very excited as he is a big fan of a video we have by Max Lucado called Hermie. It's about a very common caterpillar that asks God why he isn't special like other caterpillars. God always tells Hermie that He isn't finished with him yet. It's a great story, and Ethan really likes it when Hermie becomes a beautiful butterfly. With that in mind, he couldn't wait to "meet" Hermie and his pal Wormie.

Until we got there...

I've never had Ethan listen to me so intently...don't touch anything and stay next to me...and HE DID! He was curiously afraid. He wanted to see and be near everything, but he was afraid of what would happen should a butterfly land on him. For those of you who've never been to such a place...it's an atrium filled with beautiful plants and flowers, and LOTS of butterflies flying around in every direction. It is truly an awesome sight. If you think Ethan was afraid, check out Joshua...sheer terror. I've never seen him so truly terrified. He doesn't like anything in his face, so for him the thought of one of those unpredictable flying "things" coming anywhere near him sent him into a panic. Thankfully, they have bench's in there to sit on, and because they are away from the main source of plants and flowers, the butterflies don't come over too much. Of course, who was the one kid they kept trying to land on...??? So, I just sat down and held his hand and rubbed his leg, and calmed down and did fine, unless one came to close. I couldn't take him out of the stroller while we are in there because they have strict rules about children under 3 being in a stroller at all times. Towards the end, both he and Ethan were doing better, but still wary of those beautiful, flying creatures.

Then you have Rebekah...pointing, laughing, and say "butta, butta, butta" every time one would get close to her. She loved it!

We had a picnic there afterwards, and then bought the kiddos their very own caterpillars to watch grow into beautiful butterfly's. They are these tiny little things, and require very little care. Every morning the boys look forward to saying hello to their new little creatures. Can you guess what they named them....???? That's right...Hermie and Wormie.

Tidbits

It is with mixed emotion that I tell you my baby girl is growing up! She officially weaned herself a week ago today. All of my kids have weaned themselves...Ethan was the week of his first birthday, and Joshua was 11 mos. old. So, she did nurse the longest at a little over 15 mos. old. Still, it's bittersweet because although I won't miss the biting down when she was teething, or the waking in the middle of the night for a little "snack"...I will miss that closeness that comes with nursing. Yes, I know I have another one on the way, but each one has its own special way of nursing. Another milestone reached, and even more independence gained...by both of us! :)

This young man is proving to be our medical anomaly. Even Dr. Hofley has said that she wants to "get to the bottom of Ethan". We feel like it's all happening again, like it did two years ago. There was a period of about 3 weeks between waiting for the endoscopy and then waiting for the diagnosis, that were just hell. He wouldn't eat, drink, or sleep well. Now, he's doing it all again. It's like pulling teeth to get him to finish the smallest amount of food, or even to drink a little bit of water. We've even made sure to make his absolute favorites...tacos, chicken nuggets and french fries, omelets, but he just won't finish any of it. He wants to sleep, or lay down most of the day...but still has his spurts of energy. We've increased his Prevacid dose to see if it helps with the belly ache he complains about every time he sits down to a meal. We're just waiting on the phone call to tell us when his scope is scheduled so we can get on with some possible answers. Please pray for him, and us as we make our way through this...again!

And then there is Joshua! We are looking at his at-home therapy to start next week. We've been trying some of the suggestions made to us on how to "wake up" his mouth...and he will have none of it. We even purchased a John Deere cornstalk teether that vibrates when you bite down...another suggestion from the therapist...and he did it...once. He won't bite down on it again. He makes everyone else do it, but other than that, he's perfectly happy just playing with it. They also wanted us to do a hearing test to rule it out as a possibility for his speech delay...he passed it with flying colors. It was done yesterday at his pedi. office. Basically it's the same one they do on newborns. It just tells you whether or not any air is getting in and bouncing off the ear drum. If the child passes then you know that the canal is clear of fluid build up which can cause garbled hearing among other things. Other than that, Josh is his same ornery, noisy self that we know and love!!

Head Spinning

The boys had their 3 month checkup with Dr. Hofley today. She is there GI doc, and has done weight and height checks on them for quite some time now. She has been an incredible source of information and support.

So, today, we received some awesome news...and some not so awesome news.

Joshua is officially thriving!! He gained a little over two pounds, and grew just about an inch!! He actually looks a little chubby! :) She said in the past three months he has flown up to the 5th% for weight, and overall is doing exceptionally well. It's safe to say that, from a GI point of view, Joshua is finally okay!! She still wants to check his weight every 3 months to make sure that this is a curve that he will still on...but yipppeee! He is also scheduled to have a bone density test done to make sure that during the time of any malabsorption he may have had, it hasn't effected his bone density. From our lecture on Friday night, we learned that it should be done 6-12 months after a gluten free diet has begun and health has returned.

The head spinning part, unfortunately, is with Ethan. He is officially "failure to thrive"...again! He hasn't gained even an ounce in the last 3 months, nor has he really grown in height. She is concerned because with Joshua responding so well to the diet changes, Ethan should have had even slight improvement over the last few months. Some recent studies have talked about the possibility of refractory Celiac Disease, as well as something we learned on Friday night which has to do with a bacterial overgrowth in the intestines. Something else she has seen in children just like Ethan, is eczema up and down the lining of the esophagus, and digestive tract. Needless to say, all of this means Ethan needs another endoscopy. They want to see where the health of his intestines stands, as well as check out what kind of enzymes he has in his gut. In the meantime we are to put him on a probiotic, and use Duocal on everything he eats and drinks. He had some blood work today to check on the levels of the fat soluble vitamins, A, D, and E. What a trooper...he was excited to see the blood fill up the tubes...even if it meant a little pinch first! My brave little guy!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Belated of course. Being the excellent husband that I am I failed to do anything special for me wif of 7+ years. Once again when she said she did not want anything - I took her at her word. Silly husband, so I screwed it up. So here I am apologizing.

My lovely wife was 33 yesterday. A mother of 3 soon to be 4 as you probably figured out by the post below this one. She works tiredly (not so much tirelessly these days being preggers and all!) raising our kids. If any of you reading this knew me when I was that tender age of 5, just think of 2 of me running around. Plus a spectator egging them on. Our little sweet Rebekah is learning fast. She bring them to the doctors, play dates and home schools. Her days are busier than mine!

Through all of the chaos she still has time to run our Celiac support group plus a Bible Study. No wonder she sleeps in until 7:00 on the weekend!

She is an amazing mother, friend and wife! (and baby oven) So happy belated birthday sweetie!

Love ya!
.me

In a Heartbeat

We heard it...the wonderfully rhythmic sound of the next little Ouellette's heart pounding frantically inside of me.

On Friday, I had my first midwife visit. I am 13 weeks today, and they usually don't need to see you until the end of your first trimester, beginning of your second. With the last three pregnancies I have been in for an early ultrasound, or blood work or checkup of some sort since my miscarriage in 2004. I'm pretty sure I waited this long with Ethan, but that was sooo long ago, I honestly don't remember. So, it was nice to finally be "seen" by the midwife and to hear that wonderful heartbeat.

Still, the moment was bittersweet as I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath over the past couple of weeks, until a good friend of mine found out she had miscarried her baby. It was then I realized what had been bothering me...the fear of miscarrying again. For all the joy that hearing that heartbeat brings, you can't imagine the sorrow and loss of not hearing that heartbeat, unless, like so many of my friends, you've been through it.

Take a moment and say a prayer for all of those tiny hearts that have begun to beat today, that they may continue to grow in health. But, please, take the time to say a prayer for all of those whose hearts stopped beating so soon.

Winter/Spring Flip

This is how my kitchen looked yesterday, as I attempted to put away winter coats, hats, boots, and slippers.

This is how my boys looked as I was pulling out and trying on various spring and summer time jackets, sneakers, sandals, and hats.

I remember dreading this time of year when I was a child. I hated trying everything on, and finding out my favorite sweater no longer fit me, but fit one of my younger sisters. It took ALL day. Well, nothing has changed. I still don't enjoy it. Especially since I'm now on the buying end of things. Fortunately for us, our children don't grow very fast, but the many friends, and relatives, and in some cases very giving strangers' kids do...so we have LOTS of hand-me-downs. LOVE THAT!! Unfortunately, I still have all of their clothes to do. If you don't hear from me for awhile, I may be buried under a large mountain of kids clothes, and unable to move. Gotta love the change of seasons! :)

Happy Easter!

Easter was celebrated a little differently at our house this year. When I say different, I mean due to some food issues...we didn't do a lot of stuff we did last year.

First of all there was breakfast. I think that if I were a first time mother, I might be appalled at the thought of what it was that these kiddos ate for breakfast. But since I'm not, and we have so many limitations now in their diets, we figured it wouldn't kill them to break the rules when it comes to a "traditional breakfast".

Ahhh...breakfast of champions!

Yes, that would be a plate with a purple bunny Peep, some Starburst Jelly Beans, and yes, an incredibly delicious chocolate covered donut. Mmmmmm....yummy! Did I mention that they also had some slices of ham immediately following the sugar breakfast? And, before we left for church, I did make sure their belly's were full of bananas and apples, so if you are the candy patrol...back off! :)

We traveled to my brother-in-laws house for dinner this year as it is the last holiday we will be spending with them before they move to Ireland for at least 2 years! So, we did like we did for Thanksgiving, and just made our entire dinner before we went over, and just had to warm it up and eat. It works out so much easier, because I don't have to question everyone about everything they did to their food, before my children can consume it.

All-in-all, it was a very tiring, but truly wonderful Easter for us. Ethan is going to have a difficult time when his cousins and Aunt and Uncle leave the country, so hopefully we will have this memory to carry him through a little while.

(We're finding Ethan to be the more difficult one to photograph now!)

IFSP

For those of you who aren't familiar with Early Intervention (EI), IFSP stands for Individualized Family Support Plan...and we now have one for Joshua.

Upon a recommendation from Ethan's OT, as well as our own observations, we decided to have Joshua evaluated for sensory issues and developmental delays. He will be 3 yrs. old in July, so as far as EI goes, we don't have a lot of time. However, after going through what we have with Ethan, the earlier when can intervene the better it will be for Joshua in the long run.

It was hard for us to decide to have him evaluated because we just didn't want to "jump the gun" every time one of kids seems to have an issue. Since Ethan's development was anything but typical it has been hard for us to determine whether or not Josh's development was right on track or a little behind. Mostly because in so many ways the issues that Josh has are completely opposite of what Ethan had.

For example, Ethan was talking quite clearly and "intelligently" before he was 2 years old. Joshua is really difficult to understand by just about everyone else, except me...and even then, I struggle with understanding what it is he is trying to communicate to me. Ethan has slept through the night since he was 4 mos. old, Joshua hasn't slept through the night since the day he was born...(okay, maybe 5-6 times since then!) Ethan has/had many issues with upper arm strength, Joshua has issues with lower leg/foot strength. It took him much longer to walk, and still he's just gained confidence in doing some more jumping and running...inside.

That's just a few...and I know that many people may look at it saying..."well not all kids are the same"...but when you are in a family that has experience with sensory and developmental issues, it's never far from the realm of possibility that other children may have similar issues.

We saw Ethan's neurologist last week, and she's been following him because she is doing research in the area of connections between gluten and neurological problems. She found Ethan's case intriguing and wasn't surprised that we were having Josh evaluated as she pointed out his speech delay before I said anything. She also said she wasn't surprised because Josh had been on gluten for the first 10 months of his life, and it may have caused enough of an upset in his digestive system to throw off some of his neurological developmental. Obviously, not to the extent of his brother who went three years on gluten!

So, now we have a plan written up to help work on Joshua's speech issues, and motor planning. They feel that his speech issues may have to deal with low oral sensory input...which would explain the pocketing of food, over stuffing his mouth and then not swallowing or spitting it out, as well as his speech. As for the motor planning...they believe he has it all up in his head, he just can't make the smaller muscles in his body do what his brain is telling them to do. In testing him, he flew through the tests up to 24 mos. old. But once they added in another step to bring him up to a 24-30 month old, he started to fail the testing...he is 32 mos. old. Again, not far off...but enough that if we don't intervene early (see Early Intervention), that testing gap may get bigger. They also noticed he has low to normal muscle tone in his lower leg and feet muscles. This may explain why he walks and stands toed in all the time...it could also explain why it has taken him longer to achieve some climbing, jumping, and walking milestones.

Besides all that, they will be looking into some sensory issues like tactile and vestibular motor problems. After a few weeks of therapy they are hoping to give us a better picture of exactly where he stands...is it developmental...is it sensory...is it something else...or is it all of the above. At least, for now, thanks to EI, they come to us to do his therapy. Currently, Ethan goes out on Monday for OT, Tuesday for Speech Therapy, and Saturday for a Social and Communication Class. I am ever grateful, at least for a little while, that they will be coming to me.