Lots of Changes

Chase is holding still and watching Mickey Mouse sooooo....

Things have been crazy busy here. we bought a new house and are redoing EVERYTHING! Paint, doors, floors, doorknobs, electrical, trim... It's been alot of work and we have a lot more to do. After much thought and vexation, we finally made the decision to move into town to a house with less acreage. Josh's back has deteriorated even more and MRI's show bulging discs now on both sides of his spine. an acre of land is too much and the kids are not safe playing here. not to mention we have long outgrown our 1500 sq foot, paid off home. The timing of everything was just God because we weren't actively looking for a place. Josh's friend mentioned they'd be putting their house on the market soon and we had looked at houses in the same neighborhood. One thing led to another and we toured the house and told them we were interested. Now we're near closing and everything has worked out between us, the sellers and a lawyer. We will be moving to the exact neighborhood we want. Josh's commute will be much easier, Cady's school is 1/2 mile away, we know about 6 families in the neighborhood (one very good friend will be one street over!) and the yard is enclosed and finished without any thorns or snakes or pits of death. We love it! I am of course in hog heaven with picking paint colors, flooring and accessorizing! It's mostly unfun hard work right now but the results will be worth it! It's time to wake cady but I just found the perfect comforter set and if you knew how many I've looked at, that's saying a lot. I wanted something classic, versatile but not too matchy. Here's the winner:

Yes, I'm actually posting...

I know it's been a long time. I very rarely have spare time let alone time that I can think clearly enough to type a post. We are all doing well. Josh is working hard at work, some overtime. He has gotten two new certifications since October, one in VM Ware and one in SANS engineering. They are putting in for a new contract so he should have a new job title sometime after the new year. I have been doing whatever it is a chicken does with its head cut off. That is to say, I don't remember exactly. Mostly I've been researching and observing and experimenting with Chase and his behavior issues. He's a pretty normal kid, happy, funny, loving but he has some inconsistent behavior. He was finally diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder a couple of months ago. It has explained a lot. It explains why he would grab the same curling iron after being burned twice already, why he makes piles and messes everywhere, why he won't let me dress him, why he didn't understand when he was hurting someone. He meets with an occupational therapist and developmental specialist several times a month and it's really helped. So, he is a full time job and I've also been working on his diet with a holistic doctor and a chiropractor. We've taken out dyes, preservatives and dairy. He's a lot less jittery, a lot more calm. When he had a food like Goldfish crackers (full of tons of dyes, preservatives and dairy) he would be fussy and irritable like he couldn't stand being in his own skin. He seems much better now. He sleeps better and speaks better. His vocabulary is great! Most kids have some level of sensory integration issues whether it is getting used to loud noises, the tags in clothes or whatever but Chase needs a lot of sensory input so running, playing in the dirt, hard work is great for him. Unfortunately, the property we live on now is not...safe for him. We live on almost an acre in the "country". Sometimes it feels like another country. I wanted to write more but I'll just post pictures and blog later. Chase won't nap.

ahhh silence

It's 7:30 am and the house is still quiet. It's amazing! Several months ago I began a new schedule that I hoped would stick. It stuck but not the way I had hoped. As soon as I decided to get up at 6 am, Chase did as well. The treadmill has been glaring at me morning, noon and night since then. We may be moving into a new schedule. Chase is fighting his naps. He spends hours in his room peeling layers off of his board books, picking up the air grate in the floor, pulling clothes out of his dresser and stuffing them down the air duct, taking off his diaper and peeing on the floor, kicking the wall, pushing his dresser around the room and any other activity he can find with the limited furnishings left in his room. Yesterday was Cadence's birthday and so we went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. We stayed out until 4 in the afternoon but still no nap. We came home and put him in his room and he didn't sleep. We went to the park for a picnic for Cady's birthday and he ran around and finally crashed on the way home. He is still sleeping. The question is, can I handle him all afternoon? I already know the answer to that. Oops, I hear him coughing. He's probably waking up.
Since Josh doesn't read my blog:) my friend told me I should definetely share this story. Yesterday Chase was watching his all time favorite show, Mickey Mouse clubhouse. He wasn't ready for it to be over but they had launched into the hot dog hot dog hot diggety dog song which means it's over. Chase went into the kitchen, grabbed a wooden spoon and went back to the tv and started beating the tv screen while yelling, "No Tootie (that's what he call's Mickey), no! Spankins! Bad Tootie, naughty! No hot dog!" He was not happy that it was over and thought that he would spank....the tv. One of those 'we'll laugh when he's older' moments:)

It's Wednesday, what's for dinner?

Chase's teacher and classroom

I bought a ham.... maybe we'll have ham. I have had a headache for three straight days. I have taken meds, caffeine, water. Laying down and getting unconscious are the only things that help. Today we will go decorate the church nursery while Chase is in school. Chase is doing ok in school. His temper has been really short these past few days. We're working on it but it's hard not to face anger with anger...which is probably the root of the problem... we're enjoying some wheat crackers on the couch right now. Sounds normal enough except it's 7 in the morning. Once he sets his gaze on something he wants, taking it away is pure torture for everyone involved. I did have to put my foot down about the cake mix though. He gets up so early he eats breakfast twice anyway. So, he is the sweetest little guy much of the time. I need more coffee I thinks...
I love fall! It's cold finally! The change in weather has made us all sick with sinus issues. Poor Cadence has circles under her eyes and can't hear a thing. Chase has runny nose and my head is trying to implode.
Just thought I'd blog while we watched the Disney channel.... have a great day!

New Stuff

Well I'm up at 6 am every morning because that's when Chase gets up now. Ugggghhhh. Things have been kind of busy. Chase is running, running, running all the time, running around smearing stuff in his hair, eating soap , chewing coffee beans, stealing coffee, stealing cheese out of the frig, breaking his crib, finding ways to get things off his walls, breaking things in new inventive ways, talking and harassing his sister. He's a busy, busy boy. He starts school on Monday. SOOOO EXCITED!!! We have Open House Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday he'll go 9-12 which are his normal hours. I will start teaching Cadence again sometime that week. I took a long break over the spring and summer but with Chase in school, we will have more time to do her school work. We'll start back to the home school co-op Sep. 5. Cady's taking Math, Spanish, and Cooking. I'm going to be teaching a crafting class called Personalize It and assisting with Cooking Across Our Country. It should be fun. I've had the opportunity to do some art the past few weeks. I was asked to paint the church nursery so I've been painting for the last two weeks. I painted the foyer and muraled a fun tree and some animals and then painted four of the six rooms so far. I also painted the Kindergarten room in the annex building because Josh and I have decided to teach Cady's Sunday Scool class beginning with promotion this coming Sunday. I'll have to take pictures. Cadence is actually happy to have us teach her class. It should be fun.
We've had a little break in the heat for the last week because of rain. Soon it will be a little cooler and I'll have to buy the kids warmer clothes. Cady's moved into a 6/7 in shirts just because of her long torso. She's still in a 5/6 pants. Chase is now completely in 3T At least I've gotten some hand me downs for him. He looks like a little man.
Josh is working hard at work. He's also had the opportunity to take a new VM Ware test and he's being sent to Las Vegas in a few weeks for some more training. We should get a new contract sometime before the new year.
Well I had better get some house work done before everyone else gets up!

I'm Clean!

I finished my cleanse yesterday. I lost 12 pounds and feel great! I'm really glad I did it. I'm going to take a week off and then start South Beach.
Chase has also gotten over his poop smearing phase. THANK GOODNESS! I remember my neighbor's kid smearing her poop and I thought it was because they were dirty nasty people that abused their kids and although that is true, I've heard of so many people that have poop-smearers or were poop-smearers and they seem normal enough. Now if I can just get him to stop killing small animals.... (Just kidding!)

Cleanse Day 2- and oh yeah, more poop

So i got on the scale this morning and am down 3 pounds. All water i'm sure. i feel better than i did yesterday. i had 3 shakes and blueberries and salad and for supper i sauted an eggplant, yes and eggplant with portabello mushroom and tomatoes. it was edible. salt helped. i am starving. i want a popsicle. me and my friend robyn are teaching a cooking class this fall for the homeschool coop and we were brainstorming what foods each state is famous for. it didn't help. chase was up by 5:45 this morning but i still managed a 1/2 hour on the treadmill. i got a lot accomplished before i had to wake josh and cady up. they camped in the back yard last night in the tent. chase pooped this morning. it was on the floor in his room and i was just happy it was 1 and formed into a shape instead of a plop. we cleaned that up and went about our business. the kids played at mcdonald's with our friends and chase fell asleep in the car and didn't want to go down for his nap. i put him in there and a few minutes later he started yelling "pee, pee, potty, icky, mama!!!!" Sure enough, he'd pooped, taken off the diaper and proceeded to leave plop piles in various areas of the room. Why he can't yell before he does this, i don't know. Anyway, cleaned that up and he eventually fell asleep. he woke up early which is fine because i like to sleep past 5:45 am. when we walked our friends out, there were cows in our yard, AGAIN!!! They were there this morning but i called the sheriff to tell the owners because there property is gated like fort knox. then it started hailing and the tent was uncovered so i got soaking wet trying to cover it up and i got hailed on. so that was our day.