A Bit of This; A Bit of That

Not much by way of pictures at the moment - will have some soon I am sure - but wanted to get a post on here to catch peeps up on the 'ol Mott Family...

We are itching to be outside more for sure- this weather is garbage! For the past few weekends, if it is dry, we are basically out there, even if we need to be bundled up. It seems to draw out the masses, so we usually aren't alone for long. It's been nice to steal a few moments sitting in the sun in the "alley" or the backyard and have the sun shine on my face, with a glass of wine and just soak up watching my kids play and my hubby cook! We have been busy as usual, just random things, nothing too important. May is going to be pretty insane though. We have something booked or in the works for every weekend and lots going on during the week as well. It seems daunting and overwhelming at times when I look at the calendar, but when we are bored, we are bored and itching, and a lot of the stuff is fun stuff, so also looking forward to it all. This weekend will be all about Moms. (And hopefully I will get a few minutes as well :-)) Hoping for some sun on Saturday to hit the opening day of the Farmer's Market - yes, it begins - ahhhh, how we love the markets, hopefully that means summer is right around the corner. Then maybe breakfast with the Motts. Sunday will be brunch with Linda. I will see my mom later this month. We have a Happy Hour planned with some of our neighbors, that should be fun and it will be a first with them - no kids! Mark and I are trying to do at least ONE thing together a month to keep that spark! Mark is brewing, we have a couple birthday parties and Mel is having her Bridging event on the 16th in Portland where she will be moving from a Daisey to a BROWNIE! She is very excited, it should be a fun afternoon for her. Then Memorial Day Weekend - hoping for sun - lots of playing and BBQs!

Other than that, we have been focusing a lot on the kids. Mel has been doing really well at school, but they are a "testing" school and are focusing a lot on reading. We are all for learning of course, but we are a bit at odds with the drive behind it all. Mark and I have gone back and forth a lot lately on whether or not to pull her out of the school, but decided to keep her at WH and continue to 2nd grade. Mel really likes her school, is making friends and when you go down the hall with her, she knows the staff and kids and they know her and she is really comfortable there, that is important for a kid to feel. Even though we aren't always pleased with the school, we feel Mel is doing well and as long as we are her advocates and there as a parent presence, I think everything will be fine. Hey, she can read Green Eggs and Ham front to back by herself, just cause she may not read 50 words/min. doesn't really matter to us at this point.

Since John had his 18 mth appt. we have been a bit worried, but I think our feelings are turning to more positive thoughts, at least for me. I swear every time he has a check-up he is sick and the doctor must think he is just a pill! THEN he got 4 shots, the next week and a half were pretty brutal. So, after being told he wasn't up to par on his verbal and motor skills, he started these almost scary hour long tantrums. We got so worried we called the doc and was referred to a child behaviorist. Well, in the next 2 weeks it took to take the test and set an appt. to talk to a specialist, he had calmed down quite a bit. Thankfully...the meeting was still helpful though and it gave us some insight into John and how he responds to situations and what his reactions can mean. Also how to spot triggers that set him off and also some ways of kind of putting his behaviors in check. And really, since his appt. he has been learning a lot of the things that the doc said he was lacking. It's kind of frustrating cause they give you this form to fill out a week before his appt. and ask if he does this or that. (Which I never did with Mel). How about giving me that form at his PREVIOUS appt. and have me work with him for the next 6 months on those tasks???!!! I didn't even realize a lot of the stuff he should be doing at that point and I could have at least started working with him on it. But, I digress. I admit it has been hard with how busy we are to really take that one on one time out to work more diligently with John, especially since it doesn't seem to come as easy to him as it did to Mel, but I have really been trying to make the effort and it seems to be paying off. He is now doing some of the things he couldn't. He is saying a couple words; car and No More and Gone and we think; yes and dad. Still waiting on Mom! I have discovered he LOVES books and we have reading time every night and he likes keeping some in his crib and carries them all around now. I have also been taking him to Gymboree which I think is helping with some of his motor skills and hoping with a bit of the social ones. I just see a happy, little boy though who is eager to explore, loves being with his family and being outside. He is just turning into this fun little guy that changes every day and I just love him to death!

With all that being said, the past couple weeks have been pretty good! I am settling into my new position at work and as I was putting John down tonight, I was thinking - Man, every day I feel a bit better. It was scary to speak up, stand up for myself and make this move, but I am in such a better place - and with my job intact! Mark finally went to the doctor and found out that his cholesterol is high and his Vitamin D is very, very low, so we are both on a mission (it's wonderful to do something together) to be a bit healthier overall and cut back on some of our bad habits and create new, good ones. And since he got his levels figured out and we all got on vitamins, I think we are all feeling better. Since John is eating better and more apt to sit in his highchair we have also even been making dinners at a respectable hour and all eating together - let me tell you - it feels wonderful. I love when we do that. Anyway, I feel like we are all in a good spot right now - things are good. :-)