Don't Worry. Be Happy!

Wow. I have neglected the blog for exactly a week now. It's not that I didn't want to post; I just got really busy and caught up in my daily life.

Some new happenings in my life:

For the last few weeks, I have had some emotional and physical issues (anxiety, insomnia, hair loss, mood swings), so I went to see the doctor to get myself checked out. The verdict...she said it could be one of two things: I might have a thyroid problem or it's just post-post-partum depression. So, she drew my blood to check my thyroid levels and she started me on some anti-anxiety/depression medicine.

I know some people say you should be hush-hush about depression, but I feel like it will be easier for me to deal with it if I talk about it. I am not ashamed. It's just one of those things you can't help and that just happens sometimes.

In Easton news:

We have seen some improvement in his speech. He is more willing to say things now, especially when we give him a cue, ie "Tell Daddy, 'Have a good day'!" He is trying really hard; however, he still won't answer any questions besides if we ask him if he wants yogurt or if he wants to go outside.

He is still in speech and occupational therapy on Fridays, and we hope to see some greater progress soon!

Newest update: just found out he passed his hearing evaluation afterall! The County Preschool Intervention said he passed but will need further evaluation in 6 months! So, now we are on a waiting list for him to be put in the County's therapy program for the fall.

What about Reagan?

She is still a DIVA! and a ton of fun. She loves to laugh and giggle and coo! She's currently working on rolling over...she's almost got it! These last few nights have been a blessing! She has slept from 8:30 p.m. until after 6 a.m. without waking up through the night. I am still waking up though wondering why she hasn't woken up! :  )

What's ahead?

This weekend should be a ton of fun. From family get togethers to egg  hunts to Easter bunny pictures, I can't wait! Pictures of that will come next week!

Room Sweet Room!

For the last two nights Reagan has slept in her own room! It makes me sad and happy at the same time--she's getting older : ( but she's sleeping better in there than in our room : )

I love her little room. I decorated it myself with Target bedding and accessories, homemade art, items from my childhood, gifts & yard sale finds.

It's off the kitchen, which makes it hard to stay quiet after she's gone to bed, but I like having her on the first floor. When we bought the house, the room was the master bedroom, but it was awkward because there wasn't a bathroom attached. So, we built a master bedroom suite on the other side of the house (several years ago), and this room became an office/storage/dog room. When we got pregnant with her, I decided it would be the perfect room for her because it was far enough from Easton, so they wouldn’t disturb each other at night, but it was close enough to us so we can get to her quicker at night.

I can't believe my little baby is already 5 months old, and I didn't want to move her to her room until she was 6 months old, but it was just time to make the transition. Let's just cross our fingers that the better sleeping at night continues because Mommy and Daddy need some rest!

TGIF!!!

I am ready to get the weekend started! I can't wait to enjoy this beautiful weather! I hope everyone soaks in some sun and takes a moment to appreciate this beautiful Earth that GOD has blessed us with. Have a great weekend!

The Weight is Over!

Yes. I did it. I have finally lost ALL of my pregnancy weight! With my pregnancy with Easton, I gained 70 pounds and my pregnancy with Reagan, 40 pounds. It took me a year to lose the weight from Easton and now only 5 months from Reagan. Exciting!

I am not, by any means, writing this to brag. I am just proud of myself and I just feel like shouting from the mountain tops! Cheesy. Sorry.

I think what ultimately helped me this time, that was different than the first, was that I am breastfeeding Reagan and I am doing an exercise class called ZUMBA once a week.

Even though I have lost the weight, I still need to tone certain parts of my body--specifically my thighs and my arms. But, with this warm weather coming, I will soon get outside and chase my rugrats around to do just that!

Enough about me!

Brother Hugs and Sister Loves

Easton and Reagan were so cute with each other this past weekend! See the video for yourself!



Happy Monday everyone!

All Smiles

Yesterday Easton had his school pictures. I was actually concerned at how he would do because he never wants to sit still long enough to even look at the camera and will hardly ever smile on cue. But, when I picked him up and before I even asked his teachers about it, they both said, "Easton did soooo good today with the pictures. He smiled so well. The pictures are going to be so cute!" I smiled so big hearing that. I am soooo excited to see how they turn out!

Speaking of smiles, Easton has his tooth extraction and tooth filling appointment today. I feel like a bad parent for letting one of his teeth get rotten and get infected, but the doctor says it's not uncommon at his age at all. There was a long period of time that it was very difficult to brush Easton's teeth. He would kick and scream, so I know we didn't brush his teeth very well...but we tried. He's gotten better about letting us brush his teeth now, but the abscessed tooth is just out of our control at this point.

So today, at 6 p.m., he goes to get that sucker pulled out of his mouth and gets a filling in another tooth. We hope that he will cooperate with just the laughing gas mask on his nose and mouth, but if he doesn't, we have to resort to putting him in a papoose--a hard flat board with a straight jacket thing attached. Ugh. I think I would get too upset to see that, so Johnathan is going to take him, and I am staying home with Reagan.

I will let you all know how it goes. I hope my baby doesn't have too much pain. Good thing his speech and occupational therapy is this morning before his dentist appointment, because if he went to therapy after the dentist, then they would really think something was wrong with his speech!

Have a great weekend!

Support System

This morning has just been awful! From my husband calling me saying he was sick and I had to take the kids to their respective places this morning (Reagan to my mother-in-law's and Easton to school) to Reagan spitting up and pooping all over herself and me to my outside cat bolting in the house as I was leaving (and I had to chase her down) to not finding a parking place when I got to work, it hasn't been a great morning. It kind of sounds trivial when I write it all down, but we have all been there more than once!

Anyway, I am finding that what gets me through the day is my support system of family and friends, and people who are in a similar situation as us. Just yesterday, I ran into a professor at the college where I work. I already knew that her son is autistic, and he is the cutest and sweetest little boy. We got to talking, and because I knew of her situation, I brought up the fact that Easton's pediatrician thinks he is autistic. She and I talked for a good while about her son, my son, their differences, their similarities, and so on. It was good to know that I have someone to talk to who knows exactly what I am feeling as a mom who has a son with delays.

Once I got back to my office, I had a long email from her with names and numbers of different doctors her family has used for her son, tips and advice, and just goodwill of "I know how you feel." She offered to be a shoulder I could lean on if I needed her...because that's what moms do.

I am thankful for people like her who know what it's like, and I am so thankful for the family and friends that support us each and every day.

Well, our next adventure is the dentist. Easton has some teeth issues now, so I will let everyone know soon enough how that goes!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Today we took Easton for his second try at taking a hearing test. And the verdict is...ehhhh...he cooperated for about 25% of it.

Instead of the health department, this time we took him to this place called Progressive Audiology. It's where a lot of "old" people go to get hearing aids. The doctor was super nice and tried to establish a good raport with Easton, but my little guy has a mind of his own. Once he saw the toys in the room, it was hard to break him away from playing with them to take the hearing test.

We ended up going into a sound booth room--first try with toys and second try without-- and the doctor would play noises that would come out of different speakers that were in the corners of the room. Easton did pretty well responding to the sounds by looking in the direction of the speaker that was playing the noise, but he has his limits and after about 5 minutes, he had had enough!

The next step was trying to get Easton to be still and not scream long enough for the doc to stick these ear probe things in Easton's ears to see if fluid was behind them...that was not happening! Easton screamed and kicked! He wanted nothing to do with that!

So, we still don't have a passed hearing evaluation for Easton, and now it's on to begging our doctor to sign a provisional certificate. Cross your fingers for us! We need to get him into this intervention program...and soon!

Chic Art on the Cheap!

Even though I want to make this blog about my family and my life, it's fun to break it up every once in a while with something different. So, I decided to feature a recent craft/art project that I completed a couple of weeks ago for our living room.

Has anyone ever heard of Ballard Designs? Well, they have gorgeous furniture, art, linens, and so on. The catch is, however, is that it's really EXPENSIVE! That doesn't stop ME from creating my own version of some of their art!

Like this wall art by Ballard Designs? I did...but it's $149.00! Who has that kind of money for art or wants to spend that much? Not me. So I created my own version of this! AND, it only cost me $25!

*Please note: the photo above is only half the art I created. The other four boards are on the other side of this window...I just didn't take a picture of those!

It was really simple to do. This is what I used, and what you will need if you create your own:

* 8 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper with colors that coordinate with your room. (My layout is different than the Ballard Designs version because I only had space for 4 boards on each side of my living room window. You can create your own unique layout for your space!)

* Spray adhesive

*Spray paint (in a color that coordinates with the paper)

*MDF Shelving (I bought an 8 ft. piece because I needed 8 boards at 12 inches width each. AND, if you don't have a circular saw or someone to cut it for you, DON'T FRET! Home Depot will cut it for you!)

*Picture hooks and wall hooks

Step 1: Take your 8 boards (or however many you have decided to do) and spray the all the edges with the spray paint. Let dry...obviously. You may have to do several coats because it soaks really well into the MDF.

Step 2: One by one, spray each board with the adhesive glue and then smooth on your paper. Let dry!

Step 3: Attach the picture hooks to the back of each one. (This was the most difficult part for me for some reason. I had to get help.)

Step 4: Measure your wall and make marks for hanging your boards...then put your wall hooks in!

Step 5: Hang your art! Step back and enjoy!

Oh My Chinny, Chin, Chin!

Lately when Easton gets upset or frustrated about something, he says "Oh my chinny, chin, chin!" He picked it up from a cartoon show called Super Why, which featured an episode about the big bad wolf and the three little pigs. It's really cute when he says it...at least he is communicating instead of just whining!

I have been so frustrated lately I want to just say "Oh my chinny, chin, chin!" too. Our latest adventure has been trying to get Easton into the public school version of speech therapy.

The advantages: not only is it free, but they have the children come twice a week for therapy. (The private therapy is only once a week for 30 minutes each time, and our insurance only pays for up to 20 sessions)

The disadvantages: getting into the public school version is like try to conquer an obstacle course blind-folded. They make it SOOOO difficult to get in...but I will do anything for my little guy!

One of the big problems we are having right now is getting Easton's hearing evaluation done. Which is a feat! He doesn't like the earphones in his ears, and he doesn't understand the directions they are giving him on what to do. I just want to scream "That's why we are trying to get him into this program people! He's not going to cooperate because he doesn't understand!" We are going to try to go one more time (this Friday), and if he still won't do it, then we are going to have to beg and plead to our doctor to sign some kind of provisional certificate for him.

 "Oh my chinny, chin, chin!" Give me patience please!