We have been very busy lately with life in general. I am guilty of neglecting my blog this past few weeks, but every time I seem to sit down all I want to do is go to bed. This past month we have had complete and utter chaos in our home. Dylan was very sick with a nasty virus for 10 days straight and four of those days he had a fever of 103 and it just would not kick itself. I took him to the doctors 3 times and every time they told me it was nothing, which it was-but their were so many times he just did not sound or look good. I am an extra worry wart with Dylan because of his heart surgery when he was 4 months old. It is all fixed, but I always just worry about any respiratory infections. Dylan would not drink or eat, he just wanted to be held and laying next to Greg or I. Haylee got a little cold (thank goodness) that was the last thing I wanted was to have her get sick. Greg and I were also very lucky that neither of us got sick also.

My poor buddy sick as ever

The following weekend Greg and I were driving home from work and I was telling him that "I could not wait to enjoy a nice glass of wine by the fire outside after the long 10 days we just had with a sick little boy"... I could tell you that I spoke too soon. After dinner we heard some water leaking in our bathroom and low-and-behold our entire bathroom was filled up with water. It leaked into and under our base boards and all into our living room! Yup..that is right our house was just flooded and our entire floors and dry wall had to be torn apart. So my calm and relaxing weekend just turned into the biggest mess of my life. My house is now torn apart and waiting to be fixed. This full time working mom of two, with no sleep=break down soon! When it rains it pores! In the midst of all of our crazy shenanigans/life as we know it kind of month, We always seem to find joy and love with these two little peanuts...

 

These two are the best of friends, and I could not ask for it any other way!

Dylan has been doing so well with his walking. He is walking every where. When we go places now it's so nice to be able to let him down and explore on his own. I truly love watching his little face when he see's and hears things. It's like everything to him is so intriguing, but it's all learning for him. His speech is doing awesome! We are working on putting 3 words together like-"ready, set, go"! He has not quite mastered the "ready" but he has the "set and go" down. I love how excited he gets when he starts to say new words. We also have been working on eating with a fork and spoon, which is he doing awesome! Dylan has become the best big brother ever. He loves playing with his sister. He helps her with her toys and the newest thing is he loves to try and help her sing the "wheels on the bus" that is his favorite song....we sing it all the time. We are preparing for Dylan's IEP meeting (another post to come) so we have had lot's of evaluations and preparation for that. Lots of emotions fill my heart to think about my little man's future and what this little crazy world will be for him.

Haylee on the other hand is growing like a weed. We have her 6 month appointment in 2 weeks and at her 4 month she was 95% in height and 81% in weight. She is going to out grow her older brother in no time at all. She is rolling over all the time now, she has been sleeping about 10-11 hours a night(thank the lord, this mam can now sleep) We started oatmeal with her and she absolutely loves it. She is trying to move her legs like she wants to crawl. She try's to drink out of her brothers Sippy cup all the time and it's pretty funny. This little girl can not keep her eyes off of her brother. She is a solid magnet for him and 100% adores him in the cutest way possible. They are going to be the best of friends and she is going to be his little protector. She babbles like crazy and is the sweetest most gentle loving little girl.

In between are crazy month we got to enjoy a nice filled BBQ at my Dad and step mom's house with the family. One of my favorite things to do is spend time with my family. Their is no better thing then your family and the love that you share for each other. I love watching the kids play and help Dylan with all the fun activities. I have visions of what there future will bring and how awesome they will be for my little man. The cousins have such an awesome closeness that I pray every day will never break and always be close. Just like I am with my cousins...

As for Greg and I we are both very busy with work. It's been very hard to juggle working full time and raising two babies. I try my hardest to focus on spending time with the kids when I get home and leave the little messes for after we put them down for bed. I want to spend every minute I have with them since I am away all day. We have our groove and we make it work. I am a planner so my weekends are spent getting groceries for lunches and dinners, planning out our week for any appointments, Dylan's therapy days, or any other activities we have. Thank you for the inventions of Calendars, I don't know what I would do with out them. When we get home we go for family walks and have dinner. Greg and I try to have a date night once a month, as this is important for us as a couple. It's been harder on me leaving two babies now, but we have the best nanny in the world! I hope one day to be home with them and believe me I will ENJOY every waking minute of it. It's not easy and I envy those moms that can work and raise a family, but I also envy the moms that get to stay home. None of them our easy, but as moms we do it. We rise to the occasion and we ensure that everything is good and our family and home our running the way they need to be. God made us moms for a reason. I would not change it for the world! Hope everyone is having a great week and ready for the weekend like me...


Michelle, xo

Haylee:: 5 Months

Well our little girl is 5 months old! Where does the time go? I feel having two kids makes them grow even faster. I don't even have a second at the most to really sit down and enjoy those precious moments. Haylee and Dylan really keep us on our toes. Haylee is such a gentle loving sweet little girl. Her smile is infectious and her belly laughs our the cutest thing in the world. She is rolling over non-stop, she loves her brother more then anything, and her energy can be seen from a mile away. She is about 16 pounds and growing. She loves to grab her toys and throw them, she loves Mickey Mouse so much and I am just waiting for that day when we are asked " when are we going to Disneyland"? Haylee finally started to sleep through the night and wakes up around 4:30-5. She eats a lot and honestly I think she is ready for some real food. She is always staring at her brother when he is eating like-"hey can you give me some of that"!

I am so thankful for this sweet little girl of ours. She has made our world a better place. I am love stricken over the friendship and love that she has for her brother and how close they are becoming. I have visions of there future together and it just makes my heart beat even harder. We love you Haylee girl and so blessed God gave you to our family!

Oh.. The Things You Can Read

 Books, books and more books. This is something that is very popular in our home these days. It has been a big hit ever since Dylan was a baby. I started reading to him from the time he was born! We knew as Dylan got older his speech would become a challenge, but we had no doubt that he would learn and be awesome at it! We wanted to ensure we did anything and everything to help encourage his speech as it will help him, our family, friends, and teachers to better communicate with Dylan. In the past 2 1/2 years I have read many things myself and working very close with Dylan's therapist reading has become a huge essential part of our life. Dylan is constantly reading and learning from everything we read. From shapes, to stories, to colors, to numbers you name it we have it. We're always telling Dylan that books and reading are good for him, but have we ever really thought about why that's true? Exactly what do children get out of reading books? Does reading matter?

Reading is an important skill that needs to be developed in children. Not only is it necessary for survival in the world of schools , but in adult life as well. The ability to learn about new subjects and use our imaginations will only help in the long run.
The more children read, the better they become at reading. It's as simple as that.

 The more enjoyable the things they read are, the more they'll stick with them and develop the reading skills that they'll need for full access to information in their adult lives. Reading should be viewed as a pleasurable activity - as a source of entertaining tales and useful and interesting factual information.

The more young children are read to, the greater their interest in mastering reading. Reading out loud exposes children to proper grammar and phrasing. It enhances the development of their spoken language skills, their ability to express themselves verbally.Reading, by way of books, magazines or websites, exposes kids to new vocabulary.

 Even when they don't understand every new word, they absorb something from the context that may deepen their understanding of it the next time the word is encountered. When parents read aloud to children, the children also hear correct pronunciation as they see the words on the page, even if they can't yet read the words on their own.

 Reading opens doors - doors to factual information about any subject on earth, practical or theoretical. Given the wealth of available resources such as Internet, libraries, schools and bookstores, if children can read well and if they see reading as a source of information, then for the rest of their lives they will have access to all of the accumulated knowledge of mankind, access to all of the great minds and ideas of the past and present. It truly is magic !

Through stories and novels children can vicariously try out new experiences and test new ideas, with no negative consequences in their real lives. They can meet characters who they'll enjoy returning to for comforting and satisfying visits when they reread a cherished book or discover a sequel. Books also give kids the opportunity to flex their critical thinking skills in such areas as problem solving, the concepts of cause and effect, conflict resolution, and acceptance of responsibility for one's actions. Mysteries allow children to follow clues to their logical conclusions and to try to outguess the author. Even for very young children, a simple story with a repetitive refrain or a simple mystery to solve gives a confidence boost. Children can predict the patterns and successfully solve the riddles.

Children are influenced by and imitate the world around them. For example, books can encourage children to be more cooperative, to share with others, to be kind to animals, or to respect the natural environment.

 They share a few minutes of precious time, plus they share the ideas that are contained in the story. In addition, older children can be encouraged to read aloud to younger ones as a means of enhancing their relationship.

At school or at a library story hour, books can bring children together and can be part of a positive shared experience. For some preschoolers this may be their primary opportunity to socialize and to learn how to behave around other children or how to sit quietly for a group activity. Make the most of this experience by encouraging children to talk about what they've read or heard.

 

It may sound funny, but ebooks can be a way for children to improve their fine motor skills and their hand-eye coordination, as they click around a child friendly website or click the backward and forward buttons of online story pages. They may also be picking up valuable computer skills that they'll need in school and later in life.

 

This is one of my favorite! Reading can provide children with endless hours of fun and entertainment. All of the reasons above aren't at all necessary to justify reading's place in children's lives. Stories can free up imaginations and open up exciting new worlds of fantasy or reality. They allow children to dream and may give them a good start on the road to viewing reading as a lifelong source of pleasure; so read to your young children every day.

Inspire your older children to read. Give them access to plenty of reading material that they'll enjoy and discuss it with them. Sample everything - traditional printed books and ebooks on Internet, classic children's novels and fairy tales, as well as more modern stories.

If a child wants to hear the same story over and over again, don't worry about it. Children take comfort from the familiarity and predictability of a beloved story that they know by heart. There's no harm in that. Reread old favorites and, at the same time, introduce your children to new stories. Your child's mind and heart have room for both.

So reading really does matter after all!

There are so many ways in which reading continues to be both a vital skill for children to master, and an important source of knowledge and pleasure that can last a lifetime. Nurture it in your children. Make the most of all the resources that are available and waiting for you: printed books, online books, magazines and so forth. Encourage follow-up activities involving creative writing skills and the arts, as well, so that your children can reflect upon or expand on what they've absorbed and, at the same time, develop their own creativity. As you help your kids appreciate the magic of reading, you'll find that there's a whole wonderful world full of children's literature out there that YOU can enjoy too. I myself have found the magic in reading again through the eyes of my sweet baby boy!

The books in the pictures are currently on our top list of reads during the week. Dylan asks for each one of them every time we sit down to read.... thought I would share!

* This little Piggy- Hannah Wood
* Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb- Dr. Suess
* I'm a big Brother - Ronne Randall & Kristina Stephenson- Got This for him when his sister was born...he loves being a big brother.

Michelle, xo