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.

Luke "Lukeypants" Turns 3!

My baby turned 3 yesterday, March 30th. I found myself feeling a little sad for this birthday because at age 2 he was still considered a toddler and now he has moved up to the big boy age. Although he is quick to tell me that he is still my "yittle" boy.


I loved this last year with Luke. He went through so many changes and learned so much. We got to experience so much with Luke that we never got to with the twins. Here are a few things that I want to remember about Luke being 2.





Lukey Speak: A list of things I want to remember him saying all the time.


1. His name. for the first half of the year he called himself Tiki and this last half of 2 he started calling himself Yukey. Or Yukeypantsboy. My mother in-law thinks that when he is an adult we will still be calling him Lukeypants.


2. Strawdiddies and Strawderries. Same as his name. The first one is what he called strawberried for the first half of 2 and it has since changed to the latter.


3. See You- This is what he says when he wants to be held or picked up.


4.Yes, But....- This is something we hear a lot. He usually says this when I tell him to do something.


5. Don't want- We heard this a lot at the beginning of 2. It was usually followed by whatever we asked him to do or offered him to eat.



6. He calls his brothers Batyew and Jonny(I never liked the nickname Jonny for Jonathan but Luke came up with it on his own and it is so cute). And my mom went from framma to vramma and now he can say gramma.



7. He can't say 'L' words and says the "Y" sound instead. One of our favorite things for him to say is "I am just Yooking" he tells me this when I call for him in the store when he is lagging behind. Sometimes when we are home he will say "I am yooking for yowercase yetters." Recently he has made a big deal about not being a big boy and gets mad at us when we say he is such a big boy. He tells us "No, I am yittle boy."



8. Poptart- although he does call the actual food this he also say poptart when talking about the golf cart my dad gets to ride around on at his job. Luke loves to go see Poppa at work and ride on the poptart.



As I have mentioned before he is such a good eater. He loves his veggies especially green beans. Sometimes he will ask just to eat green beans for lunch. He also loves fruit, especially berries. He likes just about everything he eats.

Some of his favorites things this year have been Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Thomas the Tank Engine, Blues Clues, Disney Cars and just recently Diego. He developed a love for pumpkins this past fall and still looks for them at the store. He has to eat his lunch on a pumpkin plate we bought around halloween. He still sleeps with his musical sunshine we bought for him when he was just 4 months old. We have gone through 3 of them though. He loves the silky tags on clothes and toys and he usually rubs one to help fall asleep. He loves to be outside and he loves to jump. He wants to help you with everything. He loves to help Gramma water the flowers with his water bucket.

He has had a few favorite things to wear this year as well. His favorite short sleeve shirt this year was a yellow shirt with a frog on it. I had to buy another one in a size larger. His favorite long sleeve shirt was a red one with tools on it that said "Mr. Fix It" I think it should have said "Mr. Break It.". I found a short sleeve one similar to it and gave it to him or his birthday.



He has definitely had his moments this year like most 2 year olds but all in all it was a wonderful year for him and us. It has been such a joy watching the world through his eyes.

Thanks for letting me share a little about my "baby".
Here is Luke celebrating his birthday in PA wearing his favorite Tools Shirt.
Here is Luke celebrating his birthday on his actual birthday wearing his favorite Froggy Shirt. We had only been home a couple of hours from a long day of driving home.

Pennsylvania- Our Trip to Grandma and Grandpa "Rosie"s house.

This post has been almost a week in the making. But here it is.

We made it to and from PA safe and sound. It took us a little longer going and coming home than expected but with 3 boys it wasn't too surprising. The boys did surprisingly well on the long car rides and we only had a couple of bad incidents. Jonathan got sick only a couple hours into our trip but recovered nicely. We also had a few close calls with the newly potty trained boys, but again we made it to a bathroom just in the nick of time.

The hotel stops went really well and Luke did great considering it was his first time staying at a hotel. He loved having Daddy make little beds out of couch cushions for him. He had the option of sharing a bed with Mommy and Daddy but, much to our delight, did not want to.

Micah (5), Katya, (3) Grandma Rosie holding Yuri (almost 3 weeks) Jonathan (6), Matthew (6) and Luke (almost 3).

We made a brief stop in Oklahoma on the way out to visit with Eric's brother and his wife and children. We had not seen them in 4 years and hadn't met our 3 year old niece yet and we got to meet our 3 week old nephew. Eric's mom was there and she was so delighted to have all 6 of her grandchildren with her. She flew home the next day to get things ready for our arrival.

We were fortunate to beat out most of the rain on our way to PA. We were a little worried about getting home when we heard about some of the highway closures in the states that we had driven through. Fortunately all the roads were open on our way back. For the record these are all the stated we drive through to get to and from PA. New Mexico, Texas (the pan handle), Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, about 30 minute of driving through West Virginia and then Pennsylvania. It's about 2400 miles.

The time in PA was great. Eric and I had new sleeping quarters at his parents house and Luke shared the room with us sleeping on a crib mattress. The twins had their own room with separate twin beds and they did so well in those that we are now going to get them their own beds instead of having them share.

One day we drove 30 minutes to Strasburg and rode on an old steam engine train (Eric and I had been there before but not the kids). It was a very windy day and the twins do NOT like the wind but they had fun riding the train. Luke probably enjoyed it the most. It was so fun seeing his eyes light up and that smile never left his face. Such an amazing experience for both Eric and myself.

We celebrated Easter a day early with a big family dinner at Eric's parents house. I think there were 20 of us and 4 generations. It was almost all of Eric's mother's side of the family. Earlier that day it actually snowed. The boys had never been in falling snow. Matthew was mesmerized but did not want to go out in it. Luke loved being out in it.

You can't really tell but it is snowing in this picture.

Easter was a nice quiet day. We had church in the morning and then a nice relaxing afternoon. We had a nice Easter dinner and then we had Easter treats.

Easter picture. Note to Doni, I didn't bother cleaning Luke's face either.

On Monday after Easter we loaded up the kids in the van and headed 200 miles up to New York to visit with Eric's paternal grandparents. We stayed the night and had a lot of fun. Eric got to visit with a couple of his uncles and reminisce about the Giants winning the super bowl.

All of us with Eric's grandparents on his dad's side.

The Wednesday before we left to come home we had an early birthday party for Luke. It was a lot of fun. Daddy ordered a special cake for the birthday boy from a lady who used to make his birthday cakes growing up. He told me he ordered Thomas and Diego, 2 of Luke's favorite characters. I was so surprised to see that she actually created a Thomas on the cake with Diego riding him. Very original I thought.

The boys got out a couple other times to go to the park and to a little lake down the road. Daddy and Papa Rosie took them and had so much fun. They played 3 Billy Goats Gruff on a bridge at the playground and they had fun walking across fallen trees by the lake. Luke was a complete mess both days.

The boys with Papa "Rosie" at Grubb Lake.

Luke also had a lot of fun "helping" Papa Rosie start the fire in the wood stove every morning and helping with whatever else Papa would let him do. They also loved playing catch with the purple ball. Everyday Luke would walk around the house looking for his Papa Rosie. Those 2 really bonded.

All in all it was a good trip and we all had fun but are glad to be home. I think the next time we decide to drive we will have to have a couple extra days added on to the trip. We drove 4 years ago and we were gone 3 weeks and that was a little too long and this time we were only gone 2 weeks and it wasn't quite long enough. Now we know we need about 16-17 days to really have enough time.

Matthew's First Field Trip

Today I joined Matthew on his very first field trip. All the kindergartners at his school went to visit a farm. I got to ride on the bus with him and he really thought that was funny.

Our first stop on the farm was to feed some of the animals. At first Matthew wanted no part of it and then he surprised me by holding out his hand for some goat food. He then got to feed a piece of carrot to a horse and then pet some bunnies.

The other highlight of the day was our last activity of going on a hayride to see all the cows. We were at a dairy farm so there were lots of cows. Matthew and I are both allergic to hay so we are feeling pretty miserable tonight.

All in all it was a lot of fun and it was good to see that he is not so different from "typical" kindergartners. I was also so proud of him for feeding the animals. Something I am not sure I would have done even today.

Cheese Glorious Cheese

The picture above is the look we get most when we sternly call Luke's name. He usually makes this face and say "huh" at the same time. Yesterday and today I saw this look a few too many times than I wanted to.
Saturday, March 8th- I had just finished getting dressed after my morning shower and walked out of my room only to be assaulted with a most horrible smell. My first thought was that one of the boys had gotten sick to their stomach somewhere. But as I made it to the family room I soon saw the source of the smell. Our recliner was covered in Kraft Parmesan cheese. Luke quickly confessed to this and I quickly cleaned it up and scrubbed down the chair hoping to get rid of the smell.
Saturday, March 8th- Lunchtime. I was busy getting lunch for Luke when he sneaked into the fridge and got a hold of a package of shredded cheddar cheese. Luckily I caught him before he made a huge mess. But there was a mess, none the less, in the living room.
Sunday, March 9th- The boys had been up for about 30 minutes before I got out of bed. They are usually pretty good about just playing on the computer before I come out. Well, I walked into the family room and found one section of the couch sprinkled with lotion. There was also lotion in Luke's hair. I cleaned up the gooey mess and got the boys breakfast. After breakfast we headed upstairs for baths and much to my surprise discovered that the lotion mess had actually started upstairs. The top landing was a mess and toys were covered. Again Luke let me know, rather proudly, that he was the culprit.

AHHHH! What is a mother to do? Especially when his new thing is asking for a hug every time he is in trouble and saying "I just yuv (love) you." He is really something else.