Hello everyone,
I don't have much to update this week, for some reason. But I haven't written anything for a week, and Benjamin will be getting his mail tomorrow, so I figure I should write something.
Things have been moving along pretty well around here. School is going fine for the boys. Mosey is doing well at preschool. On Monday after school he told me, "Mom, preschool was pretty short today," which I figure means he was having fun! I've been reasonably productive at home, I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm totally on top of things, but I guess that's just life. I think I finally have all my artwork on the walls, although I can't find the Noah's ark and animal prints I had in Brigham's room. They are pretty large, so shouldn't be able to hide very well, but I can't find them. And I still have a few boxes of odds and ends to unpack, and all the garage stuff to organize, so I can't get too complacent here.
Here are a few tidbits about my week.
Magnetix are very cool toys, and my boys love them and play with them all the time, so all that is good. But they are a pain to clean up. The little metal balls (size of marbles), roll EVERYWHERE on my tile floor, underneath everything. Last Saturday night I spent probably an hour moving couches and chairs, swiping underneath heavy pieces of furniture with a broom to try and round up all the pieces. I'm tempted to put them up, because they are just so hard to clean up, and the boys can't really help the pieces from rolling around, but they play with them all the time, so I probably shouldn't...
Mosey is in love with his Shrek shirt he got from Grandma Jackee. He would wear it every day if I let him. We've had a few battles over this shirt already, when I've had to wash it, or simply don't want him wearing it day after day! He was pestering me all day about it yesterday, and as soon as the dryer cycle was done, he was in the laundry room fishing it out of the laundry basket. And he's wearing it again today. I'm too tired to fight him on it.
Brigham takes after his uncle Brigham in so many ways, one of them being his absent-mindedness. Christine, is Brigham still as absent minded as he was as a kid? I hope not! Brigham just can't do more than one thing at a time, since he gets so focused on that one thing he is doing. Getting dressed in the morning can be tough. He is also my most vociferous talker, so he gets involved talking about something while he's supposed to be getting dressed, and he'll take off his pajamas and then put them all back on again! Or put on his shorts forgetting about his undies. Or put his shoes on without his socks. Or simply forget about getting dressed altogether and just stand there talking and talking about something or other. So I'll (as gently as I can) remind him to get dressed, and then he gets really mad! "I AMMMM, mom!" This morning he was getting dressed and he was putting on his shorts before his undies, so I said to him, "Brigham, put your undies on first." Out of habit he started to say, "I AM putting my undies on, mom!" Then he looked down and said, "Oh. These aren't my undies." Made me laugh! Seriously, though, he needs to work on his multi-tasking skills! He also desperately wants another cat. I've been scouring Craigslist, but the right one just hasn't popped up yet. And Ben doesn't really want to get another one. But last night in his prayers he said, "And please bless us to get another cat," and afterwards Ben and I just looked at each other. So maybe he's changing his mind.
Joseph is doing well. He keeps Brigham's tall tales in check. Brigham loves to tell tall tales (last week one of them was how his teacher had a zoo with every animal in the "entire world" in her backyard; this morning it was one about how a kid in his class fell and hit is head and died), but Joseph can see right through them. He is my realist. Except when it comes to his "club house" in the back yard. He has big plans, and has been asking me more and more when I'm going to start building his club house. I hate to shatter his plans and dreams, but most of what he wants just isn't going to happen (electricity, furniture, a secret basement). But I really should spend some time with him and do a few things. His "club house" is really a small wooden structure out behind the pool. It has a swing attached, and a rope, and a couple of ladders leading up to a platform. Except most of the rungs of the ladders are broken, there's no slide, so it's really not all *that* fun. Maybe this weekend we'll repair the ladder rungs. Joseph has also learned to snap his fingers! I guess this has been a big thing among the 1st graders because every day the boys come home with different snapping techniques, and stories of who can snap their fingers, who can't, etc., etc. Joseph can do it pretty well! Brigham's still working on it.
Ben is still enjoying work, mostly. No talk of leaving and interviewing at different companies, which is a GOOD sign, and also a record for the longest he's kept a job before thinking about leaving. He's reading the Harry Potter books in Spanish. Ben is NOT a fiction reader, and I think the only fiction books he's read in the past 15 years have probably been in Spanish! He's on Book 2. The boys and I are still making our way through the audio books, we're on book 5 now.
I think I'm over my steroid withdrawal, which is good. It wasn't as bad this time as last time. The physical effects were still pretty yucky, but emotionally it was a lot better than last time. I had a followup appointment yesterday, and I did gain 2 pounds during the whole thing, but I guess it could have been worse. I've seen definite improvement, although I still hope to see more. I think it took probably 3 weeks to see the full effects last time, and it has only been 2 weeks, so I hope I gain back even more over the next few days. Everything is a lot better, although nothing is totally better. Which is fine, I probably can't expect things to completely go away. My strength is a lot better, although not where I'd like it to be. I can make it up the stairs, but it is still difficult, and I still can't go up and down more than a few times a day. Last weekend I was sweeping the floor in the downstairs. Before, I probably would have been able to do only one or two rooms before running out of steam. Now I can sweep the whole downstairs, but afterwards I really had just had it. I couldn't really even stand up anymore. It was a little discouraging, because I was hoping to really get all my strength and stamina back. But still, things are so much better than they were. I have some residual spasticity, but that has improved a lot. That's probably where I've seen the most improvement, and it was also what was making walking so very difficult. I think I'll probably always have a limp now, which is fine, but I can get around mostly without my cane now, which is doing wonders for my self-esteem. LOL. My doctor said he thought he'd have to put me on anti-spasticity meds, but after seeing my improvement, he's going to hold off on that, which made me *very* happy. My right hand is still numb, but the spasticity is totally gone in my fingers, so I can type normally again. So that's the news on the medical front. I have another appointment in 6 weeks.
We will hopefully be starting on our new roof this week. The city has the permit ready and is just waiting for approval from our HOA (I have been calling them about this for 2 weeks, but yesterday I really pestered some people, so hopefully they'll get the approval faxed over today). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather over the next few weeks, so they can get it done fast before any hurricanes come.
Well, this ended up being pretty long for a week with no updates! I'll leave you with a couple of pictures I found on my old computer's hard drive (I've been transferring files onto my new computer). It's amazing to me how much my boys have grown. I spent probably half an hour last night with the boys looking through old pictures.
I don't have much to update this week, for some reason. But I haven't written anything for a week, and Benjamin will be getting his mail tomorrow, so I figure I should write something.
Things have been moving along pretty well around here. School is going fine for the boys. Mosey is doing well at preschool. On Monday after school he told me, "Mom, preschool was pretty short today," which I figure means he was having fun! I've been reasonably productive at home, I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm totally on top of things, but I guess that's just life. I think I finally have all my artwork on the walls, although I can't find the Noah's ark and animal prints I had in Brigham's room. They are pretty large, so shouldn't be able to hide very well, but I can't find them. And I still have a few boxes of odds and ends to unpack, and all the garage stuff to organize, so I can't get too complacent here.
Here are a few tidbits about my week.
Magnetix are very cool toys, and my boys love them and play with them all the time, so all that is good. But they are a pain to clean up. The little metal balls (size of marbles), roll EVERYWHERE on my tile floor, underneath everything. Last Saturday night I spent probably an hour moving couches and chairs, swiping underneath heavy pieces of furniture with a broom to try and round up all the pieces. I'm tempted to put them up, because they are just so hard to clean up, and the boys can't really help the pieces from rolling around, but they play with them all the time, so I probably shouldn't...
Mosey is in love with his Shrek shirt he got from Grandma Jackee. He would wear it every day if I let him. We've had a few battles over this shirt already, when I've had to wash it, or simply don't want him wearing it day after day! He was pestering me all day about it yesterday, and as soon as the dryer cycle was done, he was in the laundry room fishing it out of the laundry basket. And he's wearing it again today. I'm too tired to fight him on it.
Brigham takes after his uncle Brigham in so many ways, one of them being his absent-mindedness. Christine, is Brigham still as absent minded as he was as a kid? I hope not! Brigham just can't do more than one thing at a time, since he gets so focused on that one thing he is doing. Getting dressed in the morning can be tough. He is also my most vociferous talker, so he gets involved talking about something while he's supposed to be getting dressed, and he'll take off his pajamas and then put them all back on again! Or put on his shorts forgetting about his undies. Or put his shoes on without his socks. Or simply forget about getting dressed altogether and just stand there talking and talking about something or other. So I'll (as gently as I can) remind him to get dressed, and then he gets really mad! "I AMMMM, mom!" This morning he was getting dressed and he was putting on his shorts before his undies, so I said to him, "Brigham, put your undies on first." Out of habit he started to say, "I AM putting my undies on, mom!" Then he looked down and said, "Oh. These aren't my undies." Made me laugh! Seriously, though, he needs to work on his multi-tasking skills! He also desperately wants another cat. I've been scouring Craigslist, but the right one just hasn't popped up yet. And Ben doesn't really want to get another one. But last night in his prayers he said, "And please bless us to get another cat," and afterwards Ben and I just looked at each other. So maybe he's changing his mind.
Joseph is doing well. He keeps Brigham's tall tales in check. Brigham loves to tell tall tales (last week one of them was how his teacher had a zoo with every animal in the "entire world" in her backyard; this morning it was one about how a kid in his class fell and hit is head and died), but Joseph can see right through them. He is my realist. Except when it comes to his "club house" in the back yard. He has big plans, and has been asking me more and more when I'm going to start building his club house. I hate to shatter his plans and dreams, but most of what he wants just isn't going to happen (electricity, furniture, a secret basement). But I really should spend some time with him and do a few things. His "club house" is really a small wooden structure out behind the pool. It has a swing attached, and a rope, and a couple of ladders leading up to a platform. Except most of the rungs of the ladders are broken, there's no slide, so it's really not all *that* fun. Maybe this weekend we'll repair the ladder rungs. Joseph has also learned to snap his fingers! I guess this has been a big thing among the 1st graders because every day the boys come home with different snapping techniques, and stories of who can snap their fingers, who can't, etc., etc. Joseph can do it pretty well! Brigham's still working on it.
Ben is still enjoying work, mostly. No talk of leaving and interviewing at different companies, which is a GOOD sign, and also a record for the longest he's kept a job before thinking about leaving. He's reading the Harry Potter books in Spanish. Ben is NOT a fiction reader, and I think the only fiction books he's read in the past 15 years have probably been in Spanish! He's on Book 2. The boys and I are still making our way through the audio books, we're on book 5 now.
I think I'm over my steroid withdrawal, which is good. It wasn't as bad this time as last time. The physical effects were still pretty yucky, but emotionally it was a lot better than last time. I had a followup appointment yesterday, and I did gain 2 pounds during the whole thing, but I guess it could have been worse. I've seen definite improvement, although I still hope to see more. I think it took probably 3 weeks to see the full effects last time, and it has only been 2 weeks, so I hope I gain back even more over the next few days. Everything is a lot better, although nothing is totally better. Which is fine, I probably can't expect things to completely go away. My strength is a lot better, although not where I'd like it to be. I can make it up the stairs, but it is still difficult, and I still can't go up and down more than a few times a day. Last weekend I was sweeping the floor in the downstairs. Before, I probably would have been able to do only one or two rooms before running out of steam. Now I can sweep the whole downstairs, but afterwards I really had just had it. I couldn't really even stand up anymore. It was a little discouraging, because I was hoping to really get all my strength and stamina back. But still, things are so much better than they were. I have some residual spasticity, but that has improved a lot. That's probably where I've seen the most improvement, and it was also what was making walking so very difficult. I think I'll probably always have a limp now, which is fine, but I can get around mostly without my cane now, which is doing wonders for my self-esteem. LOL. My doctor said he thought he'd have to put me on anti-spasticity meds, but after seeing my improvement, he's going to hold off on that, which made me *very* happy. My right hand is still numb, but the spasticity is totally gone in my fingers, so I can type normally again. So that's the news on the medical front. I have another appointment in 6 weeks.
We will hopefully be starting on our new roof this week. The city has the permit ready and is just waiting for approval from our HOA (I have been calling them about this for 2 weeks, but yesterday I really pestered some people, so hopefully they'll get the approval faxed over today). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good weather over the next few weeks, so they can get it done fast before any hurricanes come.
Well, this ended up being pretty long for a week with no updates! I'll leave you with a couple of pictures I found on my old computer's hard drive (I've been transferring files onto my new computer). It's amazing to me how much my boys have grown. I spent probably half an hour last night with the boys looking through old pictures.
Joseph and Mosey, 1 week old. This was the morning after Joseph fell against the sliding glass door and cut his forehead open. He likes the scar, now, 'cuz it's in the same place as Harry Potter's scar.
Look at that little toddler-belly on Brigham!! He has NO belly on him now.
Just look at this chubby bub. I shouldn't look at these old pictures, they just make me wish I had another baby so bad!
No comments:
Post a Comment