Jake is the big 1 2 !!

This is the last of our family bdays for a little while. Jake is 12 today. He gets to receive the priesthood, go to mutual and pass sacrament. He's excited and nervous for these big changes. I'm excited and nervous for him. The past few weeks he's been watching the other boys pass it and taking mental notes.

In a few months he'll be going to junior high! He is growing up so stinkin' fast.

He's great at sports and loves to do anything "boy" He loves to mow the lawn and loves it more when people hire him to mow theirs. He's already putting money aside in his mission fund and college savings.

He is doing great in scouts. He was serving as patrol leader until today, he gets to move up to the older scouts now. He can't wait for the week-long camp-outs (much more exciting than the over-night ones) He has earned so many patches!

He does awesome in school and is determined to continue doing well so he can get a scholarship. He has alot of schooling ahead of him--he wants to be a brain surgeon. I think that is an awesome thing to strive for!!

Jake--you are a sweetie. Thank you for being a great son, big brother and little brother. We love you and appreciate you. Thanks for bringing your sweet smile and fun personality to our family.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Natty!!

Today is Natalie's birthday! My baby girl is 9!! I can't believe it's been that long since I've been pregnant (my body still isn't back to pre-baby shape) We took her friends swimming for several hours and then did cake and presents. Everybody is worn out. It was a fun-filled day.
Natalie, thank you for bringing such spirit to our family. You are so much fun. I love how much you love animals (too bad you're allergic to everything) I love how you love to pray and read scriptures. Keep your sweet spirit and your desire to do good and be good. You are going to make such a difference in this world! We love you Natty!!

We're Making Progress

After 6 months of testing and lots of meetings, we are finally getting answers. It appears that Ty has ADHD and sensory processing disorder. At first I argued with the ADHD diagnosis but was told that it's not the "typical" ADHD so he has different symptoms. But the SPD fits perfectly. It was exciting to have a name to the issues. Now we know what we can do to help him. Step one--after spring break he will be transferred to a different school and be in a self-contained classroom. It is being said that he will only have to be there for 1-2 school years before coming back to our school and being main-streamed.

Step two--he needs a private occupational therapist which we are working on through the insurance. The one the school provides doesn't give hardly any one on one.

And, of course, there are some changes to be made within our home to help him. We've already started and they seem to be working.

I'm having fun doing research and talking to other people who are experiencing this with children. It's fun to put the pieces together of things that have been a problem for several years and realizing that it all fits! It's fun because now I know there's nothing I did wrong. It's not my parenting skills gone awry and there is something we can do to help him. If any of you have input on this I'm open for more. I appreciate any insight I can get. And I want to say thank you to those of you who have been asking how it's going and being excited with me that we have a "diagnosis" and for those of you that know about this and have given me advice and a great book (thanks Shannon) Now we just plug along and try new things. He's an awesome, cute, sweet little guy. We just need to help him through this little trial.