What to do about Luke and more pics.

Is he just cute or what? We were trying out some fun hairstyles after we cleaned up from some chalk playing, which you will see below.
Before we get to that, though, I wanted to write about this boy. As some of you may know, Luke has moderate to severe asthma, he also has some pretty severe food allergies and moderate to severe eczema. He is just a mess isn't he? Last night I spent 3 hours at urgent care (no they were not busy, just slow, slow, slow) because Luke was complaining about his ears and coughing some. On a side note, we had one of the worst storms I can ever remember last night and it was pretty scary being out in it. Anyway, He came down with a stuffy nose on Monday, which he gets whenever we get rain (we have gotten a lot of rain this summer). The stuffy, runny nose usually turns into an ear infection. This time it was no different, he has a pretty severe double ear infection. He had another double ear infection in May, March, January and December, I am sure there were more in the last year but I can't remember right now. I am just so tired of him getting these ear infections. Have any of your kids had tubes put in? If they have how was it decided that they needed them? Do you think I should bring this up at his next appointment. He has a quarterly check-up with his asthma/allergist doctor on Wednesday and I was wondering if I should bring it up with him. Any thoughts and feelings on the matter would help.
The twins have probably each had 2 ear infections in their almost 7 years of life. Luke has probably had 5-6 a year.
One last thing, I believe Luke will be getting retested for his nut and egg allergies on Wednesday. Please keep him in your prayers. Last year the egg had gone down but the nuts were still in the severe (off the charts) range.


Now for more pictures. This one is of Luke writing his name. He found a broken piece of chalk in the rocks in front of our house and just started writing L's and U's. I was very impressed and Grandma Rosie and I talked him through writing the K and E. I think he did a very good job for a not quite 3 and a half year old. He is above his name in the picture because we were trying to get him to pose. He did not write his name upside down.
Here was another silly hairstyle, but you can't see it very well.
This one is Grandma Rosie and the boys right before we took her to the airport.

Random Pictures from the Past Month.

Luke needed a picture of his new fashion style. He did this to himself.
Luke got this workbench for his birthday. It came a couple weeks after the fact but he was very excited. I put the whole thing together. Go Mom! < A couple weeks ago I took the boys (by myself) to a local park that has a few rides including this mini train. They did very well and cannot wait to go again this Saturday. Matthew calls it the carnival. Riding jet ski boats. I was really surprised that Luke got on because he does not like carousals, but he did great.





Luke started going to Rainbows on Sunday night at church since he is now 3. Here he is in his new uniform.

The boys were playing in this box that contained the twins new bedding. Oh how fun boxes are. This reminds me I need to get pictures of the new beds.

Matthew asked me to take his picture one morning before school. I thought he posed very well.


Luke wanted his picture taken yesterday morning. I think he wanted me to take a picture of the red balloon. This kid loves having his picture taken.

Life

Well, it took a few weeks but life has slowly returned to normal since our trip. Life was pretty quiet and peaceful for a few weeks and now things are back to the way they were before our trip. The twins are all over the place, all 3 of the boys are fighting again. Luke has been sick twice and I feel the need for another vacation.
There are less than 3 weeks of school left and then the real fun begins. The only thing I am looking forward to this summer is the fact that I will not have to get up at 6:00 every morning. I take that back. I will probably be up at 6:00 but I won't need to get out of bed to get the boys ready for school. Have I ever mentioned that the boys, all of them, wake up with the sun? This is such a lovely time of year when you hear your kids at 5:30 in the morning.
My goal for the summer is to potty train Luke. Didn't I just get finished potty training the twins???? I did attempt to get things started a couple weeks ago but Luke is a pretty strong willed child and he pretty much refused to go in the toilet. He went in his room a couple of times and even in my closet. Most days he would just wait until it was nap time and I would put him in a pull-up and then that pull-up would be soaked through in a matter of a couple of minutes. I know he can do it because this past Fall he was going in the toilet a couple of times or more a week. I guess I just missed my opportunity, but I was in the middle of getting the twins potty trained. Oh well, he definitely knows he has the control in this area. This week he has been sick and I haven't pushed him. I am hoping this summer we can get it done so he can start preschool in August.

On a side note... Jonathan has begun to eat hot dogs. I know it is not the most nutritious food out there, but let me tell you I am so thrilled we have added another main food to his meal menu. It is a great thing for him to eat at lunch. He also likes corn dogs, but I have to take the corn part off, so it really is just a hot dog. He has been eating both of these at school for months now and I was so excited when he finally said "Yes" he would eat one at home a couple of weeks ago. This past week he ate fish nuggets at school so I am hoping I can add this to his diet in a little bit.

Well, I think that is about all I have for tonight. I will try and post a few pics of the boys soon.

Decisions, Decisions.

We have had a few decisions to make around here recently regarding all the boys' schooling next year.
About 2 weeks ago Matthew's teacher called me wanting to know if I still wanted to keep the boys at separate schools next year. She works very closely with the head of the autistic programs for Mesa Public Schools. At the time I still wasn't 100% sure about keeping them separated but they do a lot better when they aren't together for long periods of time. So I told her to keep them at separate schools. For the past 2 weeks I have been debating that decision in my mind and out loud with Eric. He knows they do well apart but also knows how confusing it is to have the 2 of them at separate schools. He usually just goes along with what I feel is best for them. Earlier this week I almost called to see if I could change my mind but then decided against it.
Well, this morning Matthew's teacher called me again. She said they had a new situation come up with some of the programs and that there is now a way that the boys can both go to the same school and be in separate classes. At Matthew's school they have a separate autistic first grade and then second and third are together and fourth, fifth and sixth are together. Starting next year they will now have a separate second grade. She suggested putting Matthew in the second grade class and bringing Jonathan into the first grade class. I really think this will work out so well.
To answer your questions about Matthew being in the second grade class. No, he is not skipping a grade. Technically he will be in the second grade class but still considered a first grader. His teacher feels he is more at the level of the kids in that program and will fit in really well. I think he will do well too. He does have that early October birthday so he won't be much younger than the others and he is a pretty tall boy so he won't be the small kid. I am just so happy that this opportunity came along it is such and answer to prayer.
Jonathan might take a little while to get used to a new school but I really feel this will benefit him as well. In his class now there are a couple of kids who are for the most part non-verbal and highly aggressive. Jonathan has been bringing home some of their behavior and I really wasn't looking forward to him being with these kids again. I hope that doesn't sound mean. Jonathan's school does not offer a first grade program but instead has first, second and third all together and I was not really looking forward to that as well.
All in all, I really think this will be so nice. They can ride the same bus and Jonathan won't have to get picked up at 6:55, which means I get an extra 20 minutes to stay in bed. Which is always nice.
We also decided to put Luke in a preschool program next year. He will be attending a preschool at my parents church. He will go 2 days a week for 3 hours each day. I really feel that Luke needs this. 1. He is so smart and really needs to learn how to use his knowledge. 2. He needs to be around "normal" kids and make some friends. He loves his brothers dearly but he really loves the interaction he gets with other kids. I really think he will do well. I am so very excited to see what the Fall will bring to our family and I feel such a peace about all the decisions that have been made this week.

A New Kind of Diet

So I think I've discovered the next big thing in dieting. Last night as I was trying to eat my dinner Luke climbed up in my lap and proclaimed "I want to eat your dinner for you, Mommy." He didn't want to eat my food he wanted to eat for me. So what do you think? Getting someone else to eat for you would definitely do the trick.
By the way, he does eat MY dinner with me more often than not. No wonder I am always hungry an hour after dinner.

Duck, Duck, Goose.

The other night Matthew and Luke were playing with their diecast nascar cars and I was on the computer. After a few races across the room I hear a rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose going on. I look over to my right and see the cars in a circle with Matthew and Luke making them play the game. It was so cute and such a great moment for Matthew, who along with Jonathan, has a problem with pretend play. It really made me smile and I had to laugh when I heard them saying "Okay Jimmie Johnson it's your turn." "Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Goose. Get him Jeff Gordon."

I had to take picture of the cars in their circle and new I needed to post this. So Cute.

An Apple a Day.

Some kids cry and beg for candy or toys at the store. Not my Lukeypantsboy. He cries and carries on in the store because he wants an apple, banana, yogurt etc. He has thrown some of the biggest fits in stores all because he wants FRUIT. Now today he didn't throw a fit but walked over to the nice display of apples and said to me "What's Yukey want?" That is his way of telling me to ask him what he wants. So I did and he replied he would like an happle. Yes he says "Happle" and calls himself Yukey I did not mistype the words.
He did get his Happle by the way and it was gone before we got home (yes I cleaned it off).

How Many Bless Yous Do You Have?

I posted this on the Grace site a few weeks ago before I had the blog, but Lukey was saying it again this morning that it reminded me I should post it on my blog.

Today Lukey sneezed twice and had to inform that he had Two Bless Yous. He has said this before and it just makes me smile. Shouldn't we all refer to sneezes as Bless Yous?

And while I am on the subject of cute things Luke says I have to tell you what he told me this morning. First I have to tell you that when the boys take a bath and their fingers get all pruney they refer to it as having Wrinkle Fingers. So today I was getting dresses after my shower and Luke walked in the bathroom. He looked at my bare stomach and said "Mommy you have wrinkle fingers on your tummy." I just about died laughing and I told him that Mommy did have wrinkle fingers on her tummy and that he helped put them there, although the twins can probably take most of the credit for all those wrinkle fingers.