susan is coming!!

susan is coming up for an overnighter before she starts her new job (assistant director of the e.r.). it will be great to hang out a little and catch up! she'll be here at dinner time and then we'll have the day tomorrow. the house was clean yesterday (i swear!) right now it kind of looks like a tornado hit! here's my to-do list before she arrives:
-pay bills
-put lots of toys away (they all wind up in the living room)
-staples (make copies and buy envelopes)
-buy stamps at the post office
-play with the boys (that's the fun part!)
-maybe matty and i will have lunch with daddy
what's on your to-do list today?

spring is coming

the weather has been so beautiful and it has me ready for spring! i just ordered a bunch of fun beads--aqua glass, strawberry quartz and freshwater pearls. here's a sample of some of the new spring stuff. kinda looks like candy. hope you're all having a great tuesday!

look at that sweet face

is this the face of a child who could make a mother frustrated, angry or crazy with worry?! thanks for all your encouraging words. i talked with david's OT today and a friend who is a speech therapist (hi michele!) and got a lot of encouragement. most of matty's behavior is very age appropriate. maybe he is have some sensory overload--but it's not THAT big of a deal. deep breath! i'm trying to chill out and let him be three. one step at a time. we had a good day today!

take it easy

yesterday was a rough one! matthias was excited to go to church and did fine going to his class. after church we said hi to the college students and played a bit. then i ran to get sandwiches so we could meet our sunday school class at the park for lunch. at this point things went south. matty was upset that i wasn't around and he definitely didn't want to go to the park. he was screaming at the top of his lungs and clinging to steve. nothing would calm him down. finally, steve took him home. after a couple minutes, i followed. i was so bummed out and worried about him. he took a good nap, then ate a good dinner. he was happy and playful last night. we all needed to relax. we ordered pizza (enough for tonight, too!) i didn't do the dishes or straighten up the house. i din't make jewelry. i just played with the boys and watched a movie. i got the book 'the out of sync child' which talks about sensory integration disorder. i went through the checklist. out of the 100 or so questions, only five or so really stuck out as concerning. it seems to focus around social situations--that's were he gets overwhelmed. i'm sure things will get clearer in the next few months. for now, i need to relax a little and take it easy.

the new veggietales

the new veggietales video came out today. moe and the big exit. i was working at the women's conference with the parable, so i was able to snag a copy. it came with these awesome cowboy hats and zorro masks. we thought they were so cool--the kids weren't so sure! i love that steve has his glasses over the zorro mask, and i love that he looks so serious. he cracks me up! i'm feeling a little more even keeled about matty today, less emotional. i don't think there is anything so big we can't work through it. god is good--i know my joy lies in him.

what the pictures don't show...

so we went to the tea this morning and the boys did well. matty was a little clingy at first but then he loosened up and had fun. david hung out with the cute girls by the yellow chair. matty ran around the backyard and played in the sandbox. after the tea, we took david to school and matty proceeded to throw the hugest tantrum and pushed me to a point where i thought i might literally loose my mind and do something really horrible. we met steve for lunch and he took over (basically saving matty's life). finally, we gave matty a lollipop and totally calmed down. he ate great at lunch and then was a happy kid. we took him avila (you see my attempt at a self portrait of the three of us!) we had fun playing on the playground and walking on the beach. i am not in the best place today--so i don't have a lot of patience for grumpy, difficult kids. (it's my turn to be grumpy and difficult!!) tomorrow is a new (hopefully less grumpy!) day.

night person, morning person

David is definitely a night person and Matthias is a morning person. The other night, David stayed up until 2:30, playing in his crib, pulling to a stand, and laughing--then he slept in until I woke him up to take Matty to school. Matthias crashes at about 8:30 or 9pm and is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6:30am. After Steve puts Matthias down in the evening, he snuggles with David on the couch so I can make jewelry. David was being so cute and silly the other night (see pic)! Steve was giving him kisses and he loved it!

Matthias seems to be having some sensory issues--talking really loud or becoming overstimulated in a new social setting. It has me a little worried. This morning we are going to a tea party and there will be a lot of kiddos. Kids he knows, but it's a new setting...so we'll see how it goes!