Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Keeping Busy

Life has me running these days! Between work, sewing, kids, therapy and household stuff I just can't keep up. I've been staying up late in order to have some time to relax, but then I pay for it the next day at work when I'm half asleep and assisting the doctor.

Lemon Tree Boutique is doing well so far. It was a real confidence booster when I got several orders in a month's time. I'm hoping it continues to grow. I'm putting the profit towards paying off some debt! It'll be a weight lifted off my shoulders when it's paid off!

I'm looking forward to next week. Master's week. Spring Break! I have to work 3 days of the week but the 3 kiddos will be with my mom Sunday night through Thursday so I'll be able to sleep late those days and only have to worry about getting me, myself and I ready for the day. That's vacation enough for me right now.

And speaking of vacations..We have a couple planned already. We hardly ever go on vacation. We went to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood years back when LJ was about one and that was our first and only family vacation so far. But we're planning a trip as a family to Columbia, SC in May. We plan to go to the zoo one day, spend the night in Columbia and then visit the museum. LJ has been asking to see dinosaur bones and I haven't been to a museum since middle school so I thought it would be a fun opportunity. Then in July I'm taking a girls' trip (+ one adorable and sweet little boy) to Helen, GA. Me, Mom, Aunt Beth, Aunt Debra, Krystin, Alyssa, Trinity and LJ are all going. We booked our rooms today! I can't wait. Sight seeing, tubing, water slides, waterfalls! It's going to be so much fun. July...where are you?!

In LJ news, I decided to try something new. I was flipping through the therapy catalog last week while LJ was seeing the PT and OT and I came across some neat ideas. One was a tent type box. I got to thinking that it might be a neat thing to make for LJ to go into when he needs time to cool off. At school there is a desk for the students who need a little time out or break during an activity where they go and sit and do a puzzle or look at a book for about 3 minutes so they can calm down and then return to the activity. I bought some 3/4" PVC pipe and the fittings today. I got the pipes cut and the framework all put together. Then LJ picked out a lime green sheet tonight at Walmart that I'll use to make the cover for it. I'm going to put a basket inside the tent with books and squishy balls and maybe a flashlight. Small items that can be calming to him. And we'll just say "go take a break for a minute until you relax" until he eventually can do this without being prompted. At least, that's what I'm hoping for...that he'll go without being prompted. He's getting frustrated really easily these days and I just hate that he's always so irritated with things. I couldn't imagine. I'll post some pics when it's all finished. Hopefully during that kid free time next week, I can get the cover made for it.

Well, it's midnight here in the country so I better get some sleep. 6am will come all too soon.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Trying something new

Since I've been a member over on Sewingmamas.com and Sewforum.com I've seen lots of adorable doll clothing that people have made. I've always wondered how it would be....easy or hard? That's a lot of little seams and tight spots. I decided to give it a whirl. I have purchased many patterns from Carla C on Youcanmakethis.com for children's dresses, shirts and pants and they always include the doll version. So I printed them all out today and got started! I even bought a doll to use as my model at JoAnns yesterday. She's not American Girl, but she's cute anyways. And with my 40% off one item and 25% off my total coupon I got her for only $9.20! I wish I would've picked up a doll stand though because she won't stand up on her own. I'll have to get one next time I'm at the store. That'll probably be soon...I've got a quilting project in mind that I want to do for Spring and I need the fabrics.





Monday, March 21, 2011

Pet Peeves

I was working on a patient today. She's one of THOSE patients who can't swallow their own spit while they're in the dental office. I'm just wondering what the heck these people do while they're outside of the office. Do they spit all day or swallow? When you sit there with your mouth open while we're looking in your mouth, then saliva will pool in your throat. And this may come as a shock, but it's the same dang saliva that comes out any other time of the day! Geez people...you can swallow it. LOL And I understand not wanting to swallow if we've been doing a filling and there are bits of stuff in your mouth, but I'm talking about the people who have nothing other than their own saliva in their mouth.

Another one is people eating while they're on the phone. It's the most annoying sound. I just have to end the conversation right then and there. My mom always warns me now when she's about to eat. haha!

I have others, but those are two that annoy me most often.

So there's my pointless post for today.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Update on LJ

I couldn't remember if I'd posted about our diagnosis, but I went back and saw that I had. LJ is doing well these days. He's started meds for the ADHD which seem to be helping his focus. He's doing PT and still wearing his AFOs (though not as often as he should be...bad mommy keeps forgetting about them!) and he's started OT with a new girl. She's really nice and I'm praying that her methods work better than our last OT. I was not impressed by her at all. I didn't feel like they made a connection and I didn't feel he was progressing any with her.

Here's LJ and Ms. Jan (PT)


and here's LJ with Ms. Megan (OT)



His teacher has been great this year. Honestly at first I thought I was going to go crazy with all the phone calls and her calling out every LITTLE thing he did during the day that was "out of sorts". But she's calmed down now and I'm thankful for that. We now have an answer to WHY he does the things he does and we just strive for finding solutions to the problems. Like when he has meltdowns because he's not ready to go in from recess. Problem: changing from one activity to the other. Solution: giving him reminders that the change is coming 5 minutes before and then again 1 minute before the change. This helps him realize that change is coming and he can prepare for it. The teacher prepares him all during the day when they change from one activity to the other. And if something out of the ordinary happens (like him riding the bus home without his sisters or picture day) we give him plenty of notice and reminders about the change. He gets very anxious when things like this happen. I remember the day he had to ride the bus alone. He kept talking about it the night before and on the way to school that day. I felt so bad that my baby was scared. He did great though.

His "hand flapping" is still very much active. He does this quite frequently. And he gets fixated on things. He's had a sore on his head for months now because he picks at it all day long! He once had a scratch on his face that he constantly picked at. I'm about ready to get his hair cut very short so that I can kept some antibiotic cream on it and hopefully it'll go away.

He won't talk to anyone on the phone. Mom kept him last Friday because school was out and when I called to check on him he wouldn't talk to me. I have no idea why he won't talk...he used to. When he gets embarrassed or is being shy he'll lick whoever is holding him. We saw a cousin in Walmart and LJ was in the buggy. When I said "Tell Daphne hey" he promptly leaned over and licked my hand several times! LOL Just a nervous tick. He did it to his daddy a couple weeks ago (Joe had taken him to see a friend that works at the archery shop and LJ always likes seeing Mr. Casey...but he acted shy and licked Joe!)

He enjoys lots of different things. He loves his video games. He got a DSi from his Nana Ann and Popa Wyman for his birthday and he plays that a lot. He also plays the Wii. He can scan through the movies on Netflix through the Wii like a pro and can operate my Ipod Touch better than I can :) He loves to read books and I'm working on sight words with him. I know I, a, big, so and am. We just started with them. He also loves to be outside. Swinging is his favorite outside activity. His teacher says he'll stay on the swings during the entire recess time. We signed him up for Tball this year. We're just waiting to hear from the coach to see when the practices and games start. I'm anxious to see how he does. It'll be his first team activity. I too him to buy his cleats and glove last weekend. He's all set.

He's such a wonderful little man. He's so smart and is always asking questions and learning new stuff. He's requested a trip to see dinosaur bones so we're going to take him to the museum soon. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Wow...talk about neglect!

I've been neglecting my blog big time. I've had so much going on and I just haven't kept things up.

I will have to make sure to update more often for sure!

Here are a few pics as a mini update.

LJ had his 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It was a great party and he had a blast. He even got up and danced with Chuck E. and the crew during the Happy Birthday song. He was the only one!


And a pic of the girls with Caroline during her visit to GA. It was a good long visit and we enjoyed getting to spend time with Marie, Caroline and Howie!


And a couple pics from our first lake trip of the year. It was a little chilly but it was a bit overcast so a great opportunity for pictures.