Ashley made Josh this stylish and festive sweatshirt to wear for Christmas. He looks pretty excited about it, don’t you think?
The boys opened matching pajamas on Christmas eve. Notice how nice Mikey’s hair looks. That is how it’s supposed to look.
And…..this is NOT how it’s supposed to look.
Here are a few more from our Christmas morning.
I don’t know if I’ve ever told this story here. I don’t think so.
About four years ago Phillip and I were sitting in a doctor’s office waiting for him to confirm our worst fears about our pregnancy. We were sitting there numb, solemn, weary, out of tears. It was a very bad day. And as we were sitting there in that doctor’s office waiting, a lady came in. She was probably in her mid to late 40′s if I remember correctly. And it seems like she was wearing some kind of work out outfit with very tight fitting pants. I don’t have to tell you that sometimes the people who wear the tightest and most revealing clothing have the least amount of business wearing them. Anyway, she went up to the counter right in front of us and leaned over the counter and stuck her booty out and we saw more of her thong underwear and crack than we could have ever wanted. And it took everything in both of us not to laugh out loud right there in that silent doctor’s office waiting room. It was just so funny. And when things are pretty bad and you need to laugh sometimes it becomes the hysterical out of control tears rolling down kind of laughter. But I think we held it together.
As gross as it sounds, that lady’s butt was sort of a gift to us that day. I really believe that God sends us lots of moments like that when we need them. There were many things like that during those 2 years. And for the most part, Phillip and I embraced them all, figuratively speaking, of course. We didn’t actually embrace that lady’s butt. In times of great sorrow there are always things that we can find to make us laugh and smile.
I have a friend who is going through a time of great sorrow right now. And yesterday I saw and heard her laugh. I hope this time in their lives is sprinkled with lots of funny and joyful things. We all need that from time to time even if it is a gross booty put on display for all to see.
that we break “the news” about Santa Claus to Jackson. He already suspects that the dude isn’t real. Tonight at Target Jackson found some Darth Vader pajama pants that he really liked and he wanted me to buy them for him for Christmas. There was only one pair left so I went ahead and bought them and told him to forget about them so he would be surprised. I’m considering putting those pajama pants in his stocking this year. Then he will know the truth. And the truth will set him free. What do you think? Bad idea? Grandmothers, you don’t really count in this particular poll. Well, you count but I will disregard your answers. Well, I won’t disregard them but I won’t heed them…or something like that.
I’m writing this from my phone so if it looks weird or has lots of typos that’s why.
So most of you reading this know that the whole preschool thing didn’t really end up working out for Mikey. And I’ve been pretty sad about it because I really believe he needs to be able to learn and have fun in a classroom with other kids his age. He was evaluated/tested through the school district last week to see what kind of educational services he might qualify for through the school ditrict. They called on Friday and they believe it would be a good idea to put him an early childhood program at one of our local elementary schools. He will be in a class with about 7 other kids his age and three adults. The children in his class will have varying degrees of abilities and disabilities. And these adults are trained to teach kids who might be a bit more challenging to teach. I have mixed feelings about this but all in all I think he will love it and I think it will be great for him. They are not concerned about Mikey cognitively at all but there enough concerns about his language and behavior to require some intervention.
I know that many kids slip through the cracks when it comes
to early intervention because of choices made by parents or doctors. I guess I feel a little guilty because we have tried to get Mikey every available service to help him succeed and I hope that we haven’t gone overboard.
So he will start at this school shortly after his third birthday. He’ll go five days a week for three hours every afternoon. I hope this will be a great thing for him and will provide him with the type of environment he needs. And I’ll keep you
all posted.
A couple of weeks ago while eating breakfast at the former Mendoza’s, Phillip and I decided on a gift that we thought Jack would like. Jack has only been allowed to play video games for 45 minutes 2 days a week for most of his video game years. We occasionally let him have a little more time if he’s been really good or if we have company over who wants to play video games with him. But he’s getting a little bit older now and we thought maybe he could handle a little more video game time. So we decided to make him some cards and give to him that he can “cash in” to play video games. The easiest way for me to do this was just to design a business card in photoshop and order a box of them. A box of 50 cards cost me $12 with free shipping. We don’t really need 50 but that’s just the easiest way to do it. So at the beginning of the week we’ll give Jack 7 cards and he can use them when he wants to, within reason. And if he wants to use three in one day he can do that or he can use one a day. If he misbehaves too badly we’ll take a card away. So anyway, here is the card and they will be one of his presents on Christmas morning. He’s probably going to be totally thrilled to be given permission to play video games every day.
I’m beginning to find my way out of the Christmas insanity fog. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Christmas season for a family photographer is just pretty crazy. And then when you add the regular busyness of the season, homeschooling, and having a Mikey it makes for a pretty overwhelming time.
October through December are probably my busiest months out of the year. I think I had 27 sessions and one wedding from mid-October through mid-December. I have photographed 97 people in the last 2-ish months not including that wedding. And that is a lot! At least for me. And it is finally winding down. I have one more session before Christmas and then my calendar is pretty wide open. The senior season will start probably go from about February through April for me.
This has been a stressful time but for the most part I have had so much fun! Most of the time my “job” doesn’t even feel like work. The sessions are usually a blast and I really love meeting all these new people. Even the editing of the pics doesn’t really feel like a chore most of the time. I don’t love the ordering, packaging, shipping side of things but that’s just part of it.
So now I finally feel like I can focus on getting the rest of my Christmas shopping and wrapping done. I will have more evenings that I can spend with Phillip instead of on the computer until 1:00 in the morning. I love the Christmas season and I’m so grateful for how great the business has been going. But it is very easy to loose sight of why we even celebrate Christmas when we’re so very busy.
This weekend Phillip and I will get out of town for a couple of days without our kids. We’re going to spend the weekend with Phillip’s brother and his wife. And I’m so looking forward to it. I’m just looking forward to spending undivided quality time with some people that I love. I’m looking forward to being away from my computer. The light at the end of the tunnel is almost here and I can’t wait!
I took these about a month ago. It was new lens day. I blogged some pictures that day but not these.
So Jackson is hilarious. Just in case you didn’t know that by now, he’s the funniest thing. And he’s a little geeky but don’t tell him I said that. He pulls his shorts up too high even though we tell him not to. And he’s not terribly coordinated. But he has been making us laugh every day of his life. I think it’s a gift.
Yeah, he’s funny. And just a tad geeky. And the cutest thing.
A couple of things.
One, we had an interesting Target visit on…I don’t even know what day that was. Tuesday?? I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, I wanted to do a little shopping at Target and the boys needed to eat lunch so I decided we would eat a junkie lunch at Target and then shop. I bought myself a sandwich and some chips, Mikey a hot dog, and Jack some chicken strips and some Cheetos for the boys to share. I also got Mikey an Icee because we usually get him an Icee at Target because we know that will keep him content for about 30 minutes. So while I was filling up Mikey’s Icee cup another child nearby asked his mom for an Icee. She said that he couldn’t have an Icee because they are full of sugar and red dye. She intentionally said it much louder than she needed to say it and shot me an evil glance as she said it. I raised one eyebrow at her and grinned because she can kiss off as far as I’m concerned. Keep in mind this lady was buying her son a Target hot dog and fixing herself a soda. Anyway, Mikey refused to eat anything “healthy” so I wouldn’t let him have anymore Cheetos or Icee. He had a major meltdown falling on the floor knocking food off the table crazy out of this world screaming fit. We ended up throwing the majority of our food away and going home. So basically we drove to Target to spend $10 on junk that we didn’t really eat. Fun times.
Second thing, today while at the post office with Mikey a lady who heard me speak at church…. okay let me back up. A couple of weeks ago and a couple of weeks before that I spoke briefly at our church about the pregnancy losses we experienced and our road to adopt Mikey. Fast forward to today, a lady who I have never met before said she enjoyed hearing me speak at church. She also said Mikey is gorgeous or something like that and that she loved how friendly he is. And I got in the car thinking that if the Target flipping out kicking screaming Mikey had been at the post office today that could have been awkward. Because instead of enjoying my angel child I would have been screaming at him and lifting him off the floor by the back of his pants.
So now I am painfully aware that I have to be on my best parental behavior in public because one of the thousand or so people who heard me speak about him might be watching. So now I can’t swat him on the behind in public, not that I ever did that anyway. Promise.
You thought I forgot, didn’t you? I didn’t. I’ve just been kinda busy. Okay so I’ve only got one thing this week because I really am busy.
This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
So I probably didn’t have a conversation with one of our church staff guys about the sexual content of James Brown music. I certainly didn’t say something like “We skip Sex Machine.” while standing in the children’s area of our church. Uh..no. Because of course we would skip Sex Machine. We only listen to Sandy Patty at our house and never ever jam out to James Brown (except Sex Machine). Promise.
So I’ve had a little over a day now to think about things and talk to some trusted people about Mikey and preschool. Time and thinking really does wonders. But if I only blogged when I feel positive or like I’ve got everything figured out, I’d blog about twice a year and none of you would read it. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m cool with things now. Mikey is two, almost three. And as you all know, he has been a verbally delayed toddler and two, almost three year old. He’s catching up in many ways and making lots of progress.
But in the preschool environment he’s required to do things that he’s just not capable and/or willing to do right now. By nature Mikey is a strong willed non-conformist, among other things. He is difficult, rewarding, tedious, and glorious to parent. Stick a strong willed non-conformist preschooler in a room with other preschoolers and tell him to stand and he will sit; tell him to sit and he will stand; tell him to walk and he will run. I myself have taught preschoolers bent as Mikey is bent and more often than not, you want to hand in your badge and call it a day. Mikey will and is learning to submit to authority but that is something that for whatever reason goes very strongly against his nature. And he’s got to learn to control his impulses and think through what his actions will cause. But again, he’s not quite three years old. Most children his age have similar struggles, just perhaps not to the degree that he does. They don’t call it “terrible 2′s” for nothing.
He has been getting early childhood speech therapy through our local Early Childhood Intervention program. Once he’s three, he’ll age out of that and will receive needed therapy through the school district. He’ll be evaluated on December 14th to find out what kinds of services those will be. I know for sure he’ll receive speech therapy and beyond that, I just don’t know yet.
I’ve been contemplating trying to get him back in the preschool he was going to sooner than next school year. But the more I really think about it, the more I think that’s just not the place for him right now. I wish like crazy that it were. He really loves it there but he’s got to be willing to love it on other people’s terms rather than just his own. And it is ultimately our responsibility to teach him these things, not any school. I believe that he’s got the best teachers he could have in this family. We aren’t perfect by any means and we’ve never claimed to be. But we are dedicated to molding him into the man he was created to be. We are blessed with an amazing support system of parents, extended family, and friends.
On a somewhat related positive note I have to tell you that Mikey is almost completely potty trained!! He wears underwear from morning ’till night with very few accidents. Today I didn’t even tell him when to go the potty. He just went when he needed to go. We’ve been taking him to restaurants and stores and even Chick-Fil-A in underwear and we’ve had no yucky surprises lately. We’re still working on #2 because he asks for a diaper to do that business most of the time. And occasionally he asks for a pair of underwear to put on his head.
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day
Here’s what my sweetheart said.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
I tell them tenderly.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
I write these posts.
Our 7 year old smarty pants who
has perfected the smirk
Here is a link to Jackson's blog.
He dictates, I type.
Our 3 year old menace with
the angelic face
