Happy Birthday Eli!

Eli turned 4.  I can’t believe how big he is getting.  He had a lightining McQueen party.  Josh, Margene and Naomi came down to celebrate with us.  Eli loved all the attention and gifts.  At his camp on Monday I took cupcakes and some gluten free doughnuts and they sang Happy Birthday to him there and let him blow out some candles.  He had a great birthday.  I love you Eli!

 

Eli loved his cake.

Aubrey, Naomi, and Jaxon helped to decorate it.  At first I was nervous but it turned out really cute.

Fun with the Campbell’s

There is always a project or two when you go visit the Josh Campbell clan.  They always make it fun.  Josh and James ended up hauling 2 ton of tree stumps and then we had fun eating smores and letting the kids run around. 

A cute picture of the cousins together.

Summer Fun!!

Of course Eli always loves water no matter what time of year it is.  They had a lot of fun playing in the pool in the back yard.

Anyone who has spoken with Jaxon over the past few months have probably heard the name Everett or “Ebert".”  Everett is Jaxon’s best buddy and Jaxon is always talking about him and wanting to go to “Evert’s house.”  

Okay, so it was mid-July and Jaxon insisted on wearing his coat to take Eli to camp.  Poor kid took it off pretty fast after we dropped Eli off.  It was hilarious!

A Busy Summer

Man, I have a lot of catching up to do. If my life wasn't so hectic through the summer and I wasn't dealing with being large and pregnant I would say that I am just lazy. I apologize for my forgetfulness and hope that people are still looking at our blog every once in awhile.

My last post was about Eli's IEP, in May. Well, instead of putting him in school we put him in a summer camp. It was the Autism Foundation of Tennessee's summer camp. We were very excited and besides him coming home with a few mannerisms from other children with Autism, it seemed to work out great. Our gas bill went way up since I had to drive him there and pick him up. It took about 1 hr. and 20-30 minutes out of our day to drive him there and back. They met in a little presbyterian church and his teacher was Christine, who is a behavioral therapist. Also at the camp was his teacher, Ms. Carrie from his school. Of course seeing the same people every day I got a lot of, "When are you due again?" "You haven't had him yet?" "I thought you would have popped by now." I guess I looked pretty bad. Also with this pregnancy I swelled up really bad. Good thing Eli doesn't get embarrassed yet. Eli regressed with his eating while at this camp and we are still working to get him to feed himself again. They made the mistake of feeding him once and now he has to be prompted or fed for him to even try his food. Very frustrating! We are also trying the Reliv vitamins and hope that will help. Haven't seen much yet but we will keep trying. He counts to 10, says his abc's and recognizes his abc's. He also signs and says, "More," "Help," "drink," and "food." His communication is coming. He also recognizes his shapes. He is smart and are excited to see the progress he makes during the school year again at Shayne Elementary with his awesome teacher, Ms. Carrie Lunsford. Yeah, Eli!

Eli Update

James and I went last Friday to Eli's annual IEP (individualized education plan) meeting. His teacher and Occupational therapist just kept on praising his progress and told us several things that he does that keeps them laughing. He has quite the personality, even though he can't communicate very well yet. He does have some communication but it is very, very limited. That is our goal for this next year. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, said that every day after naps he points to her and says, "you fired." We discovered he got that off of the movie, "The Incredibles." She said he is the king of circle time; he recognizes his name said aloud and written; he sings and does the moves to a lot of the songs. He still thrives on routine and any change in his routine causes a tantrum but he has learned to calm himself down pretty fast. He understands more words and does say "NO" when he doesn't want something. He loves the assistant principal, Mr. Peoples and Mr peoples even takes him around to other classrooms sometimes with him. So when we were there other teachers would say how much they love Eli. He rules the school, they say!
They want to keep him in school for 3 hrs. a day during the summer. We are trying to find what else we can do for him this summer. They also want him back in the same classroom (CBIP-Communication, Behavioral intervention program), at the same school, with the same teacher in the fall. I think this is the best thing for him for now. Please keep him in your prayers and pray that we will know what avenues to take to try to help him.
While we were discussing his IEP i heard yelling down the hall of the school and knew it was Eli. They weren't putting him on the bus since we were there so he threw a little fit because it was a change in routine but when he saw us he gave us his biggest smile and ran to his Dad. He looked at the teachers aids and said, "all done" while signing it at the same time. He was done with them, he had his dad. He loved being in there with us and loved the chocolate on the table. He at one point went and played with the magnetic letters on the teachers desk and brought some back to the table with him. He then proceeded to put them back in the same exact order he found them on the teachers desk. James would then mess it up and then Eli would put it back together exactly the way it was before. So it seems he has a photographic memory. We are going to try a few things to see if that is true and what else he can do. In other words, the progression is slow but there is progression and that is what's important. I love my sweet Eli!

I'm sure everyone knows by now!

Okay, so I am really slow at posting on my blog. NO wisecracks please! I am sure most of you know what gender our baby is going to be by now but for those who have not heard I am now going to tell you. We went, very excited to find out. The baby was hiding, trying to not let us see and then we got a good look. Can you guess? IT'S A ...........(the suspense it killing you right)...............(Okay I'll let you know after I stretch for a little bit).............. (I'lll let you know after I use the restroom).................(uh-oh kids are screaming)....................(gotta check on who got booted off on American Idol)...........................(I missed "Lost" last night, so I better watch the episode)...........................................................................IT'S A BOY!!!! Man it took you long enough to find out. Silly people! We thought for sure we were having a girl so I even bought a few girl things; good thing Margene is having a girl. I went to the Doctors appointment after in tears. We are excited to have a boy, but hesitant on what challenge this little boy is going to bring with him. We are praying that he won't have any problems but also praying that we can handle whatever happens. We just want him to be healthy and happy.
Aubrey was very sad too. She didn't want the boys to outnumber the girls anymore. After we came home she cried for awhile. She said, "boys are too bossy!" I said that girls are bossy too and she said, "no way, I've never been bossy!" Now she is very excited and even felt the baby kick her in the head the other day. She keeps asking me when I am going to have them take him out. She said she "can't wait to be a big sister." I told her she already is and she said, "no way!" We can't wait to welcome him into our family and are excited about the names we have come up with. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Yeah Warmth

I love when the weather gets warm and the kids can play outside for a little bit. We pulled out our dora sprinkler, and let the kids run through it. Eli would have done it all day if he could have! Of course Jaxon is once again wearing Spiderman. That is all he wears. We finally had to force one of his shirts off him since he wore it for 4 days; he didn't like the replacement spiderman shirt we gave him. He threw a big fit! Poor kid!

Easter

We went up to Josh and Margene's for conference weekend. They are always party animals. We left Aubrey up there for a week so they would have to come down the next weekend for Easter. As payment for being sneaky they brought Aubrey home with the flu. Which the rest of us, except for James( always the case), would get in the next couple weeks. ( more to come on that later) We had lots of things planned for Easter but it ended up being freezing cold and so we did a quick easter egg hunt and then ended up at home for our Easter picnic. McKaylee helped me finish the Easter Egg Pinata by painting it very colorful. She did a great job! It was expertly put together because no one could break it. Josh even broke our most treasured, green, plastic bat trying to get it to open. We ended up kicking it. The kids expected candy but we had slips of paper with scriptures on it and things that represented the Savior (along with some marbles to add some weight) in it instead. Then after we discussed the reason we celebrate Easter we gave them a clue to go and find a bag of gummi lifesavers candy with a couple more scriptures explaining that Jesus is our lifesaver and he loves us. It was fun for me to put together so I hope every one else had fun. Thanks Josh and Margene for braving the Greenwood household once again. Josh, you still owe us another beautiful, plastic, green bat. hehe j/k

The two pregnant women helping the Easter bunny get the baskets together. Margene is so cute!

Flu update: Jaxon got the flu for the normal 24-48 hrs after Aubrey. Then we had a break for a few days and so we thought it was over. Then, Eli came home from school the next thursday after Easter with red, goopy eyes and a fever. Then the next day both Eli and I were bed ridden because of chills, fever, ache and some congestion. It ended up lasting until the next thursday when we were finally able to send Eli to school and I went to the Dr.'s because mine turned into a sinus infection. I have decided that we ended up with the piglet flu, not quite the swine flu that everyone else it getting. ( haha bad joke, I know) It was the worst flu I have ever had! I am glad it is over for awhile, hopefully!

new helmet

I don't know if anyone else has this problem but my kids seem to have very large heads. Aubrey had a cute princess helmet that lasted, not very long. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Greenwood, who sent money for her birthday, she got a new helmet (still with princesses on it). She looks cute.

We also bought some curlers to see if Aubrey would actually let me curl her hair. We have done it once and it has been over a month. Oh well!

Aubrey's Week

The last week of March was a busy week for Aubrey.

Aubrey of course realizes that she is a big girl but sometimes her curiosity gets the better of her. We were enjoying the day outside. I was planting some flowers and the kids were playing in the cul-de-sac. James keeps asking me where the adult supervision was. I was right there and thought she was playing with some dirt on the side of the road. Come to find out it was tar! We tried oil, butter, soap and water and everything else. I called James and told him to pick up some of that fast orange stuff that mechanics use. That is the only way we ended up getting it off. Meanwhile, Aubrey's hands and arms were covered, as well as her feet and legs. It was quite the sight to see. She got it all over the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink, and her bike and all over my shirt. What a mess it was! We ended up putting socks on her hands and feet so she wouldn't get it anywhere else, until her dad got home. What a kid!

Aubrey this same week ended up losing her first tooth; well, she swallowed it while we were at the Dr.'s office. She also got her 5 year shots so she can go to school. I finally gave in and got Jaxon his MMR shot. I was nervous for weeks always hoping that shots really don't have anything to do with Autism. He is still doing great and is in the process of potty training. He has to wear spider man underwear and it has to be on backwords so he can see the pictures. He climbs up backwards on the toilet and does his thing. He loves being big!

My kids!

We had a fun adventure at the park for Eli's break from school. Eli chased a kid around trying to get his lightning McQueen toy and Jaxon was still pretty fussy from being sick with canker sores in his mouth. I love my kids but enjoy them more when they are smiling.

Making do!

Eli has figured out how to move chairs and stools over so he can reach what he wants. Below: They are going on a boat ride. Watch out for sharks!

The box that we got for Aubrey's birthday was so big so we only used half of it. The other half we made into a little clubhouse that sat beside our couch for awhile. Now it has been dumped in the back yard. Aubrey wanted a little playhouse so we gave her the homemade kind. The kids loved it.

Princess Party

Aubrey's 5th birthday party. Saturday, march 14, 2009. Princess was the theme and it was fun to see all the girls dressed up as princesses. They played "Don't Eat Pete," princess style; kiss the frog and turn him into a prince; and musical princesses. They danced and when the music stopped they stood on a princess and we would draw the name of the princess. Whoever was standing on that princess got a prize. Aubrey got a big set of princess barbies and so each of the girls picked one to play with.
Look how sweet she is sitting on her makeshift throne.I sent James to an appliance store to get us a box to turn into a castle for the entrance to the party. I think it turned out pretty cute. We even still have half the box for next time. hehe Aubrey wanted a draw bridge as the door. The adults had to bend over to get in but it was perfect for the girls.

Aubrey helped me with the cake. It was fun to try to be like Aunt Kim and make a cute cake. We did okay I think and Aubrey loved it and that's all that matters. Happy Birthday to our princess!!

Kids will be Kids

Eli put gloves on and some rainboots and was dancing around the house.

Jumping on the bed in Mom and Dad's room is the greatest thing to do.

They have wrestling matches to see who is the strongest. Aubrey is winning this one.

Jaxon of course is winning this one.

The circus

The end of January the Barnum and Bailey Circus came into town. We found some babysitters and took Aubrey to see it. She thought it was so much fun and lasted for most of it but ended up winding down at the end. She loved the clowns, of course. She wanted all the fun things they were selling but we convinced her that she didn't want them. So fun!

James and I in February got to go and see Riverdance (their final tour). It was a lot of fun and we were far enough away that it did look like their legs weren't attached to their bodies. It was fun.

News!!!!

On our Christmas vacation we also had a little surprise happen. I took 2 pregnancy tests and they both came out positive. We are expecting our 4th baby. We find out in 2 1/2 weeks what we are having. We are excited and nervous at the same time. I have been really sick with this one (not Hilary sick) but throwing up 4 or 5 times a day is a lot for me. It has gone down to 1-2 times a day and this last week I have gone a couple days without throwing up which is very exciting. I was bedridden most of January and February which is why I am just barely announcing this. Please keep us in your prayers that I can feel better and take care of my family and that this will be a healthy baby (boy or girl).
Aubrey prays all the time that , "the baby will stop making mom sick." She was watching "The testaments" with me last night and kept asking what Jesus was doing with the sick people. I told her he was healing them. She left for a minute and then came back and said, "I prayed to Heavenly Father and Jesus that you would not be sick anymore because they can heal you." It was so sweet! The Faith of a little child. She teaches us so much.

Christmas wasn't that long ago right?!!

Since we are not yet halfway to Christmas of 2009 I think that it is still appropriate to post about Christmas of 2008 right? I'll just give a brief rundown of our trip.

Christmas being a season full of joy with little stress, brought us to make the decision that flying standby to Denver and then on to Salt Lake would run smoothly without any bumps ( not counting turbulence). December 14 came around and we rushed to the airport in hopes that we would make the morning flight. James was able to get on with Aubrey and Eli but Jaxon and I had to wait for the next flight. You'll never guess what happened next; James took off to Denver with mine and Jaxon's tickets in hand. Good thing we had a great flight agent who called Denver and made sure that they would send our tickets back on the next flight from Denver to Nashville. However, that made it so we couldn't try again until Sunday. So Jaxon and I called for a ride home and spent the night at home. Sunday again we rushed to the airport, the security guards asking us why we were back, and tried to make that flight. Well, that flight was full, the next flight ended up being full and monday looked horrible to even try. We decided last minute to try MOnday's afternoon flight because an ice storm was headed to Nashville. Luckily we got on and we ended up being seated in first class. Too bad with a two year old you can't recline the comfy seat and take a nap. He thought it was great!

So now we've made it to Denver excited to visit and we had a great time there, especially on Wednesday night when we had a get together with the fam and on thursday James got to go out to lunch with his old co-workers. Too bad Friday a couple of us came down with the flu. The flights from Denver to Salt Lake looked scary and I didn't dare try to fly on my own with 3 kids on standby. So we ended up buying tickets on sunday. WE made it to the flight on time ready to go and they told me security forgot to punch my card, so we had to wait for security to come. They took their sweet time getting there and the flight agent was going to send the plane on without us, but then tears started flowing and she felt sorry for me. So we barely made it. Kim picked us up at the airport and we went to her house for some delicious pizza and then headed toward St. George to meet Dad halfway. It was great to be home with the fam and Kirsti and Loren were there as well. We had fun hanging out with the fam and Aubrey still comments on the sledding trip. We had a great christmas there and started thinking about the trek home. Mom was even more nervous than I was about flying home to Nashville on standby tickets with 3 small children. She was coming up with all sorts of plans to get us home. IN the end the decision was made to drive on New Years Eve and meet James halfway. James laughs because he ended up going further than halfway. So for New years we spent the time in the car enjoying Mom and Dad and seeing where they lived 100 years ago (j/k). The Kids did really well and it was a good thing we had a small dvd player otherwise I don't think we would have made it. Thanks everybody for your hospitality. So Happy Late New Year to everyone!!!