Dreams Do Come True

Both of my Grandmothers died when my parents were young. While it's sad to have never known them, I'm grateful that my Dad's Dad chose such a wonderful woman for me to call Grandma.

My Grandma's father (so I guess that makes him my 'Step Great-Grandpa', LOL), was the famous sculpture Torleif S. Knaphus. I remember my Grandma taking me to Temple Square and showing me his "Handcart Pioneers" sculpture and telling me all about how she was the model for the baby inside the cart.

She is so proud of her dad and loves to tell stories about him. I love how much her eyes light up whenever she talks about him.

After many fundraisers, and many years, a replica sculpture is finally being unveiled today in Norway, where her Dad was born. My Grandma has traveled all over the world, but her age is preventing her from going on this trip. I wish this had come to fruition while she was still able to travel. However, her sons and some of her grandchildren are there right now heading up the ceremony.

I know she's waited for this day for a long time and I'm so happy for her. If you are dying to read more, which I know you are, feel free to click here.

Speaking of sculptures, my cousin that's in Norway right now just posted this picture to her blog...

Um, yea, look closer...

How freaky cool is that?! I can't wait until the kids get a little older so I can start seeing the world!

Soccer Season

Soccer season finally came to an end. This was the first year I had both kids in soccer. Emma ended up quitting dance mid-year because in addition to soccer, we also had swimming and scouts, leaving barely enough time to do homework during the week.

I'm so glad I got her in soccer. She is really good! She is quick on her feet and loves to take control of the ball. She ended up scoring quite a bit too.

taking it in...

goal!!

jumping celebration

another goal
another big smile!


chillin' with team

Landon also did a great job this season. He moved up a level and so they play positions now, which gives him less opportunity to get the ball. He decided he likes the 'Forward' position the most. He's a great defender and just loves to be out there playing with his friends!

School Picnic

Our kids' school had a Family Picnic Day on the last week of school. It was so fun to sit back and watch the kids in their element and see them with their friends. It's also a nice chance to hang out with the other parents and teachers in a more casual environment. What a fun night!

Emma and her best friend Maloreigh


Landon and his best friend RJ

Landon's other best friend Andy

They hung up all the kids' artwork which was fun to see.

Squeeeeeze!

I've been really busy this last few weeks with soccer, swimming, scouts, school, oh- and Livi.

I'll post a little later about the million activities Landon and Emma have been involved in lately, but for now I wanted to update on Livi. I want to document her therapy and her progress, so this may be a little boring to read, but I think it will be good for me to look back on.

Since she's been diagnosed with SPD, we've changed her course of treatment quite a bit. In addition to the weekly feeding class, she also meets with a therapist in our home. She's introduced us to a lot of techniques to help with Livi's behaviors. For example, Livi will have a physical reaction when putting food in her mouth, and will actually start shaking. Here is an example of how she reacts to any type of food I give her:

Her therapist said that her sensory system is overloaded and that's the way her body reacts. She suggested counter-acting it with pressure to her body. Sometimes holding her tight will work, but the best way is to squeeze her hands together. We've been doing that for a while now and it works so well that now she just does it on her own- whenever she finds herself overloaded, she squeezes her hands together, and she's suddenly better. I'm glad I have a therapist with a lot of SPD experience, because I would never have tried that one on my own.

There's a lot more I want to have documented about her therapy, but I think I'll just write separate posts since this one is getting a little long. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing and strong little girl. I'm also thankful that I was given the patience and perseverance that I needed to deal with this little bump in the road.

More on Livi's Therapy

Livi's therapists gave me some tools to help her control her sensory overloads. One of which is jumping. If she gets out of control and can't seem to concentrate, letting her jump supposedly helps with this. They suggested I let her jump on the couch or buy something she can bounce on. Of course I chose to save my couch.

I was skeptical about the purpose of this, but did as I was told and bought this fun little bouncer. She liked to jump in it, but mostly wanted to have her pillow and blankie in it and watch Dora. Then one day during our in home session, Livi was all over the place and would not pay attention. The therapist asked for the bouncer and did some jumping exercises with her. After about ten minutes we sat down again to resume our session and Livi was calm and finished her session without any problems. It was amazing to see how well the jumping really worked (when done correctly).

The other interesting thing they do in her classe is "bubble therapy" for kids who hate touching things that are wet, sticky or with texture. At our first class, Livi would not touch the bubbles at all. They suggested I try doing it at home as well to make her more comfortable with the idea. I recruited Emma to help me and once Livi saw Emma playing with the bubbles, she was all for it.
Emma said it was her favorite "chore" and would do it anytime I needed her to.

Now Livi will touch the food, but choses just to play with it instead. She lines up her food a lot, which is a pretty common behavior for kids with this disorder.

She is doing much better now and I'm so grateful I have all the tools I need to help her get through this.

I'm The Boss

Landon: Mom, were you ever robbed when you worked at a bank?

Mom: No, but it's because I didn't really work in that area of the bank, I was in a different building.

Landon: Oh, so what did you do there?

Mom: I was the Manager of a bunch of people that took phone calls from the bank customers.

Landon: So YOU were the boss of people?

Mom: Yup

Landon: No wonder you're so good at bossing us. I wondered how you knew how to do it!

A Math Lesson...Daddy Style

Jeremy decided he was going to make
math homework a little more interesting.

I was a little surprised to see my kids playing Black Jack....

I was even more surprised to see the Banker...

Labels

I've never been a fan of labeling people. Maybe it goes back to my childhood when my brothers labeled me 'Smelly Melly With Jelly in Her Belly'. Yes, seriously.

Obviously there are concrete diseases, disorders, and disabilities, like Cancer and Down Syndrome, to name a few. My issue is with labeling social or emotional behaviors. Why do they need a label? Can't we just address the behavior? Sure your hyperactive kid might need additional intervention, but do we have to label him as ADHD in order to address the behavior?

This has been my humble opinion for my entire adult life.

Until recently.

When I was having issues with my eye swelling shut, I went to the doctor. We treated the symptoms. The symptoms went away. However, it kept coming back. Turns out I had something called Meibomian Blepharitis.

Because this weird phenomenon had a name, I was able to do research on how to prevent it. In short, my eyelids over-produce oil causing the glands to clog overnight, which is what caused the swelling. Each night I would wash my face and use eye cream. Apparently that cream made my eyes even more oily. Now that I've stopped using it, I have more crows feet, but no swelling.

Getting more to the point of this post, as you know, my Livi hasn't eaten in 9 weeks. We've called her stubborn and crazy (among other not so nice names at times), but those are terms of endearment, not labels, right?

So we've been treating the symptoms, by taking her to feeding class and working on making eating not so scary for her, even though we didn't fully understand the issue.


After five weeks and a lot of testing (and a bit of denial on my part), it turns out there is actually a name for what Livi has- 'Sensory Processing Disorder'.

It's pretty complex, so I'll spare you the details (since I've already written a novel). But, I'm actually relieved to have something to reference so I can better treat her condition. For me, knowledge is power, so I bought three books today that I think will really give me some good insight.

I'm thankful that she can be helped.
I'm also thankful that things could be worse.
I'm grateful she is otherwise happy and healthy.

And grateful that it has a label.

Small Victories

After NINE weeks of not eating any solid food, yesterday

Jeremy was able to get Livi to take a few bites of this:

Okay, so "bite" isn't the right word...she was afraid to chew so just swallowed the pieces whole.

Then she choked.

Then spit it out.

Today, Emma got her to try a few bites of her cupcake.

She couldn't swallow them whole, so she actually chewed them.

THEN, tonight our babysitter said she ate some Mac n' Cheese.

Hmmm, is there a common theme here?

Livi will eat for everyone but ME!

I'm with her 99.9% of the time, so
maybe I've been the problem all along?!!!

I can't wait to share the good news at her feeding class tomorrow.

They are the only ones that can understand
the joy of a 2-year old eating a banana.

Mother's Day Weekend

My weekend started with a fun date-night on Saturday night. Jeremy and I went to Wiseguys to see Jamie Kennedy, who was so hysterical!

Then I woke up after five whole hours of sleep to Landon and Emma sitting at my bedside waiting to give me their presents. Landon wrote me a really beautiful letter and Emma made me a bracelet. I love home made gifts more than anything else...although the gift certificate and chocolates from Jeremy were pretty sweet too!

Then off to Village Inn for some yummy French Toast.

Then Jeremy took the kids to the park and we all got cute for a party with Jeremy's family.

It was a wonderful day.

I'm so blessed to be a Mom and to have
such a wonderful husband and kids!

My Little Guinea Pig

Dear Landon,

I am so grateful you were my first born.

I am also so sorry you were my first born.

The worst thing about being the first child is that you get to experience all of my parenting mistakes. I am learning as I go along and unfortunately, that means a lot of my mistakes fall onto you.

I was really hard on you yesterday. You have endless energy and you are always running around. I've told you several times not to run in the house because you tend to run into things and hurt yourself or break things in the house. Yesterday, you were in such a hurry and ran on the kitchen floor in your socks. You fell down pretty hard and started crying. You were really hurt. I ran over to you to console you. You walked away from me and wouldn't let me hold you, or even touch you. I chastised you for running, and after you stopped crying, you told me that you were only running because you were trying to hide my Mother's Day present before I could see it.

Then today, I took you and Emma to swim lessons and I forgot your swimsuit. You were obviously disappointed because you really look forward to swimming each week. You handled it like such a grownup, and told me that everyone makes mistakes and you knew it was an accident. Even after how I treated you yesterday, you still handled yourself with such dignity.

I want to be more like you.

The day you were born, you filled up a piece of my heart that I didn't know was missing. I never felt like having a child was a sacrifice, because you made it so easy. One smile or hug from you would make my day. Even though your hugs are becoming few and far between; they still make my day. Your smile still melts my heart. The love I have for you, my only son, is indescribable.

I promise to put less pressure on you. I promise to forgive your mistakes as easily as you forgive mine. I dedicate this Mother's Day to you Landon. After all, you are the one that made me a Mom.

I love you!

A Wee Bit O' Updating

A few things to report over the last two weeks...

Emma was awarded "Challenger Knight"
(camera battery died, so please forgive the quality of the cell phone)
Turned a rainy day into a Dinosaur Museum Day



More swimming lessons


Tiled the bathroom
(hence, the toilet in the shower post)


Planted some vegetables



Colored my hair
It was one 'Hail' of a week!