We had Colin's meeting this morning. It went very very well. I am very lucky to always get amazing service coordinators to help me out an to live in such an amazing school district where they WANT to help the children. I could never leave here until the kids are out of school. It's truely amazing, and we are blessed to have them. So Colin was approved for a full day Center based 6:1:1 classroom. He is in need of Physical Therapy, Occupational therapy, Speech therapy and Special Ed *whew* the kid is going to be working hard! We have now have to keep our fingers crossed that we can find a program this late in the school year that has openings for him. Caden's school currently does't, I already tried that route. If no program is found, then he'll contiue to get preschool services at Stacy's house, which will be more the choatic to say the least. I can't even imagine how that is going to work. He'll be required to get OT 2 times/week. Speech 2 times/week. Physical therapy 1 time/week and special ed 2 times/week. I am hoping more then ever a school is found for him, beucase that schedule will be virtually almost impossible for Stacy, not to mention the fact that she shouldn't have to have that extra responsibility either.
Colin demenstarted Clinically significant delays in the following areas: Emotionally Reactive, Somatic Complaints, Sleep problems, Attention Problems, Aggresive behavior, Affective problems, Anxiety problems, Pervasive Developmental problems (Borderline), Attention deficit hyperactiviy problems & Oppositional defiant problems *whew* that is ALOT for such a little man. I couldn't beleive it when I read the eval report. Pretty intense stuff. It seem like ALOT of his delays in other areas stem from the sensory delays. So hopefully once we overcome one, he can soar in others. He also has definite/severe delays in the following areas, Vestibular processing, Touch processing & Oral sensory processing. He has a probable dealy in the Auditiory processing. In his PT eval he scrored within normal limits BECAUSE so many areas he did ABOVE level in and then area's for about 24-30 months or so he failed in, so there is a HUGE gap in his motor skills. He also showed low tone in his upper body and some in his lower body as well. He also tripped alot and had trouble adjusteing to different heights.
Because of all of the delays his little body is expressing, his self help skills are SEVERLY delayed. So this center based program and multiple therapies are sure to help him (and us) a ton and i am looking forward to seeing him progress as we go along. Colin will only be 2 years and 9 months old when he starts school and rides the bus! *YIKES!*
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Caden ~ Kindergarten Screening/registration
Yesterday was our Kindergarten registration and screening for Caden. Those of you that know me, know this is something I’ve been struggling with for months. SO much so that I wasn’t even sleeping for a while because of it. Lord knows I can’t afford to miss anymore sleep, since I am already lacking so much in that department. Kindergarten in NYS is not even mandatory until the child reaches 6 years of age. I’ve thrown all sorts of things/ideas around for the past few weeks. Thinking I’ll keep him back another year to have him gain much needed confidence, however by doing that, he wont’ be in a program at all. He ages out of his therapeutic preschool and although he would continue to get services and therapy at home, it would not give him a structured environment that he is used too, as well as daily interaction with peers. So in the end, after talking, crying, worrying about it for weeks, discussing with school, we decided to just do what is best for him and send him to kindergarten and hope they have a proper program to put him into.
With that being said.Caden does NOT want to leave his school. He was so scared at screening, I had to go in with him and he squeezed my hand that entire time. It ripped my heart out. I stayed happy and positive for him the entire time and kept telling him all the good things, he kept saying, too big, stay in my school. *sigh* so he ended up scoring a 58/100 on the screening. He obviously had a very hard time with the speech part of it. He wasn’t able to articulate many things, which is no surprise. He also doesn’t recognize numbers, but yet he can count them. In his motor testing he got an 11/19 and in concepts he got a 23/49. Overall, I was pretty impressed that he did as well as he could. I know he’ll need A LOT of help to get through next year, this doesn’t surprise me. He’ll also need to continue with his speech and OT, and we have our district meeting next month to discuss what type of setting to put him in. I am hoping very much that they have an 8:1:1 at the very most. If not, I think it will be a lot for him to comprehend - Time will tell.
We also had the chance while at the school to visit a classroom. Courtney’s old 2nd grade teacher, who I became pretty close with way back when, now teaches kindergarten. She was SO happy to see us and asked about the family and Courtney etc. So after we were done, I told Caden I wanted to walk down the kindergarten wing, so he could see what it would be like. Mrs. Wilson (Kristen) poked her head out and invited us in to her room. She asked all the kids to say hi to Caden and showed him the bathroom, sink, the round tables and where the lunches go etc. It was really nice of her and I thanked her so much for doing this for us. Unfortunately he wont’ be able to be in her class, but I also know that she’ll keep a good eye on him for me. While in there we asked him if he liked it and wanted to come there – His answer? “No ~ too big!” J
With that being said.Caden does NOT want to leave his school. He was so scared at screening, I had to go in with him and he squeezed my hand that entire time. It ripped my heart out. I stayed happy and positive for him the entire time and kept telling him all the good things, he kept saying, too big, stay in my school. *sigh* so he ended up scoring a 58/100 on the screening. He obviously had a very hard time with the speech part of it. He wasn’t able to articulate many things, which is no surprise. He also doesn’t recognize numbers, but yet he can count them. In his motor testing he got an 11/19 and in concepts he got a 23/49. Overall, I was pretty impressed that he did as well as he could. I know he’ll need A LOT of help to get through next year, this doesn’t surprise me. He’ll also need to continue with his speech and OT, and we have our district meeting next month to discuss what type of setting to put him in. I am hoping very much that they have an 8:1:1 at the very most. If not, I think it will be a lot for him to comprehend - Time will tell.
We also had the chance while at the school to visit a classroom. Courtney’s old 2nd grade teacher, who I became pretty close with way back when, now teaches kindergarten. She was SO happy to see us and asked about the family and Courtney etc. So after we were done, I told Caden I wanted to walk down the kindergarten wing, so he could see what it would be like. Mrs. Wilson (Kristen) poked her head out and invited us in to her room. She asked all the kids to say hi to Caden and showed him the bathroom, sink, the round tables and where the lunches go etc. It was really nice of her and I thanked her so much for doing this for us. Unfortunately he wont’ be able to be in her class, but I also know that she’ll keep a good eye on him for me. While in there we asked him if he liked it and wanted to come there – His answer? “No ~ too big!” J
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Colin ~ 1 eval down
4 more and a meeting to go.
Yesterday evening we had the special ed teacher come over for her part of Colin's transition eval. He did really well, believe it or not, even avoided a meltdown at one point?! Col - why do you not do this for mommy and daddy?? Anyway, he came out with only a mild delay, which we pretty much already knew, since he only gets the Spec ed. services only 2 x's a month currently. His need for this service is only because his sensory delays delay him in certain area of learning. So Park 1 is over. Tomorrow We have the psychological eval at 8:30 and the Physical Therapy one at 9:30. And yes, I still have to come to work after that too. Busy days.
I think I am going to skip running tonight. This time change is really starting to affect us all. Mike and I have been up until almost midnight for 3 nights in a row, and we are BOTH sleeping thorough all of the morning alarms and not waking up until almost 6:45! WAY to late for both of us! So I was planning on yoga at 9 tonight, but since we have to go play musical cars with my dad's car and my van late tonight, I think I am going to stay home after and hit the bed hopefully by 10:30!
Can I do it???????
Yesterday evening we had the special ed teacher come over for her part of Colin's transition eval. He did really well, believe it or not, even avoided a meltdown at one point?! Col - why do you not do this for mommy and daddy?? Anyway, he came out with only a mild delay, which we pretty much already knew, since he only gets the Spec ed. services only 2 x's a month currently. His need for this service is only because his sensory delays delay him in certain area of learning. So Park 1 is over. Tomorrow We have the psychological eval at 8:30 and the Physical Therapy one at 9:30. And yes, I still have to come to work after that too. Busy days.
I think I am going to skip running tonight. This time change is really starting to affect us all. Mike and I have been up until almost midnight for 3 nights in a row, and we are BOTH sleeping thorough all of the morning alarms and not waking up until almost 6:45! WAY to late for both of us! So I was planning on yoga at 9 tonight, but since we have to go play musical cars with my dad's car and my van late tonight, I think I am going to stay home after and hit the bed hopefully by 10:30!
Can I do it???????
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Leaps & Bounce
We decided at the last minute today to take the kids to a local indoor bounce place. They had 5 bounce houses set up, and I figured the kids could run crazy there and no one would give me funny looks and it would wear then down in time for nap. It worked well. They had a really good time and so did we! It actually burns alot of calories!! :-) We will for sure go back there again I think, we really enjoyed the experience.
Daddy & Colin
Nap time??
Daddy having fun too!
Colin boucning
I LOVE this smile on Caden!
These two are backwards, He was at the top of the slide, before I caught him in action!
Nice shot of Colin riding the merry go round.
Up the toddler side, they a bounce house set up just for the little ones!
Caden playing the racing game
Colin beading
Colin on the side
Playing in the jousting areana
Going down the slide with mommy. Mommy had alot of fun on that one!
Some pictures of the kiddos
It took hours to get Colin to wear these glasses, but he did. I am so proud of him. The drive to stacy's in the morning is right in the sun and it's hurts the boys eyes very bad. So meema got them matching sunglasses, which they loved, but Colin doesn't like things touching him, so I was SO happy when he got them on! Over a year ago we never would have been able to get these on Caden either, it's so great to see how far they've come
Caden Playing
I have to post this picture becuase Caden does NOT play with kids. Ever. He doesn't know how to interact with them. Last weekend my friend Pam and her hubby and daughter came over to play. So the kids know one another and have played in the same room about 4-5 times over the past few months. Well Haley asked Caden to play Hide and Seek and he said "OKAY!!" and started hiding his eyes and counting! THEN they held the same toy and ran around the house tugging one another. This is the FIRST time I've ever seen him interact with another child like this and it was wonderful. Haley, Like Colin has moderate sensory delays so it's nice that we can all hang out together and understand why the kids do what they do! So I am so proud of Caden, and these days he evens ASKS to go to Haley's house!
Long Lost Updates - Kyoto
I am way behind in blogging. I finally uploaded my pictures and saw how far behind I actually am. So a few weeks ago, my friend Shevonne and I went to a new Hibachi restaurant. Her son is also special needs, so we make it a point to do a girls dinner night once a month. We wanted something new and fun this time, so we tried the hibachi. We had so much fun!! The food was delicious and it was really neat to be able to watch them cook it right in front of you. I sure wish I could make my food taste that good. It was a great time and I am looking forward to our next girls night this month!
Our Chef
Heating up the grill
The Rice and Lomein, Noitce he is bounching an egg on the spatula.
Mix the LoMein
Volcano out of onions
Yummy veggies and meats
So yes, we HAD to try the fried Ice cream. It was OK, not as good as I was dreaming though!
Shev & I, it's a horrid picture, but the best we were able to get
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Where has the time gone??
It's been a while since I've really blogged. There is so much going on it's crazy. Colin is getting ready to go from EI to CPSE, Caden is getting ready to move from CPSE to CSE & Kindergarten. Blackberry was sick. Courtney needs braces, mike's truck got fixed, Kym's van broke and is getting fixed this weekend. Kym's training to run a 5K on April 17th and spends alot of time at the gym preparing. What else?? Oh yea, Courtney's birthday is in 2.5 weeks and Easter is the following weekend after that! Ahhhhhh!!! Breathe! LOL
So let's start with Colin - We are in the process of doing all of his evals to get him transitioned to the CPSE part of life. Which means mega mega appointments. Next week we have his Special Ed Eval, Psychological Eval and Physical Therapy eval. Not to mention he'll still have his reg. 2 Occupational therapy visits and 1 special ed one. The following week we have the speech eval and OT eval. The the following week after that, on the 30th {court's b-day!!} we have the meeting with the district to find out the outcome of all said evals. I am considering asking about getting him into Caden's school. I think he could benefit from the program and I think it would be really really good for him. We'll see what happens as we get closer. And I'd like to talk that over with my service coordinator as well too. Gateway takes children at 2 years 9 months, and Col will be that on April 10th, so now better time then the present right?
Moving on to Caden. We had his case conference with school last week. It went Ok. His teachers all agreed that they do not think he ready to be in a typical class with typical children w/o a 1:1 aide, so when the district comes to observe him, they will let that person know that. Caden transition meeting from CPSE to CSE is on April 16th, so we'll have to see then what is offered as far as classes for him. Technically he doesn't even have to attend school until the age of 6, per NYS law. HOWEVER, he does age out of his current school program, so that would leave him with nothing. He would still get services, but at home and how does that help him socially? It doesn't. So until the meeting on the 16th, We won't know what's going on. Before that even happens though, Caden's kindergarten screening in happening. This is on Tues. the 23rd and should be pretty interesting. They are going to see my little man walk in with his barrel of monkey's wrapped up and his pacifier and tell us to leave! Not really, but you know what I mean. I am not even going to let him bring them in. He can bring one baby, and he knows this. I am going to start prepping him for this now, as I have been the past couple weeks anyway. Caden is very very very smart, just not developmentally. He is more "street" smart so to speak. I can't wait to the see the results of this screening. I can tell them before we even go in there he outcome if they would like, it might save more time!
Moving onto Courtney - Who will be 13 on the 30th! holy cow, can you believe that?? I can't. I am way to young to have a teenager, that is taller then me! Seriously. So we are having her sleepover party on Saturday the 27th. Nothing huge. She'll have 5 friends over. And a friend of mine who is a jewelry maker is going to come over and the girls are all going to be making their own bracelets. I thought it would be something fun for the girls to do, since they are around that age now. Courtney also needs braces. I am not sure yet how we're going to be able to make this happen, but we will. I just need time to mentally process all of it and see what I can do. *sigh*
Blackberry was really sick last week and we spend over an hour and $231 at the vet with her. She had a really bad eye infection and ended up on 3 medicines. Poor baby blackberry. She has recovered really well and is back to her normal playful self now. Her and baby bob have become wonderful friends and I am glad they have each other. Bob does come out more and more now and we are even able to pet him, on his terms of course. BUT that is a huge start!!
A couple weeks ago we got Mike's truck fixed, so it's like a brand new vehicle. There was so many problems wrong wtih it, I can't even begin to tell you. Basically we've only been able to get it to pass inspection 1 time in the almost 3 years we've had it. So thanks to Dave, and almost $900 later Mike has a nice working truck. that will hopefully pass inspection in the next few weeks!
That was done JUST in time for Kyms van to break!! The head gasket went on the van. It's been going and going over the years, but we knew it was a very expensive fix. So now we can't wait anymore. So almost $500 and 3 days later, Dave will be fixing it this coming Sunday. Thankfully my dad is letting us borrow a car, because otherwise I have NO idea how I'd be getting to and from work, appointments and to get the kids.
So on a positive note, we are all doing ok. Kym is keeping busy getting ready for her first race. I head out to the gym every night after the boys go to bed. Mike's work is starting to pick up a little bit since it's getting nicer out everyday. The boys are boys. Colin vacuums all the time and Caden well, he's Caden. Courtney spends alot of time with friends and school work. And that is us lately! I promise to try to update more!
So let's start with Colin - We are in the process of doing all of his evals to get him transitioned to the CPSE part of life. Which means mega mega appointments. Next week we have his Special Ed Eval, Psychological Eval and Physical Therapy eval. Not to mention he'll still have his reg. 2 Occupational therapy visits and 1 special ed one. The following week we have the speech eval and OT eval. The the following week after that, on the 30th {court's b-day!!} we have the meeting with the district to find out the outcome of all said evals. I am considering asking about getting him into Caden's school. I think he could benefit from the program and I think it would be really really good for him. We'll see what happens as we get closer. And I'd like to talk that over with my service coordinator as well too. Gateway takes children at 2 years 9 months, and Col will be that on April 10th, so now better time then the present right?
Moving on to Caden. We had his case conference with school last week. It went Ok. His teachers all agreed that they do not think he ready to be in a typical class with typical children w/o a 1:1 aide, so when the district comes to observe him, they will let that person know that. Caden transition meeting from CPSE to CSE is on April 16th, so we'll have to see then what is offered as far as classes for him. Technically he doesn't even have to attend school until the age of 6, per NYS law. HOWEVER, he does age out of his current school program, so that would leave him with nothing. He would still get services, but at home and how does that help him socially? It doesn't. So until the meeting on the 16th, We won't know what's going on. Before that even happens though, Caden's kindergarten screening in happening. This is on Tues. the 23rd and should be pretty interesting. They are going to see my little man walk in with his barrel of monkey's wrapped up and his pacifier and tell us to leave! Not really, but you know what I mean. I am not even going to let him bring them in. He can bring one baby, and he knows this. I am going to start prepping him for this now, as I have been the past couple weeks anyway. Caden is very very very smart, just not developmentally. He is more "street" smart so to speak. I can't wait to the see the results of this screening. I can tell them before we even go in there he outcome if they would like, it might save more time!
Moving onto Courtney - Who will be 13 on the 30th! holy cow, can you believe that?? I can't. I am way to young to have a teenager, that is taller then me! Seriously. So we are having her sleepover party on Saturday the 27th. Nothing huge. She'll have 5 friends over. And a friend of mine who is a jewelry maker is going to come over and the girls are all going to be making their own bracelets. I thought it would be something fun for the girls to do, since they are around that age now. Courtney also needs braces. I am not sure yet how we're going to be able to make this happen, but we will. I just need time to mentally process all of it and see what I can do. *sigh*
Blackberry was really sick last week and we spend over an hour and $231 at the vet with her. She had a really bad eye infection and ended up on 3 medicines. Poor baby blackberry. She has recovered really well and is back to her normal playful self now. Her and baby bob have become wonderful friends and I am glad they have each other. Bob does come out more and more now and we are even able to pet him, on his terms of course. BUT that is a huge start!!
A couple weeks ago we got Mike's truck fixed, so it's like a brand new vehicle. There was so many problems wrong wtih it, I can't even begin to tell you. Basically we've only been able to get it to pass inspection 1 time in the almost 3 years we've had it. So thanks to Dave, and almost $900 later Mike has a nice working truck. that will hopefully pass inspection in the next few weeks!
That was done JUST in time for Kyms van to break!! The head gasket went on the van. It's been going and going over the years, but we knew it was a very expensive fix. So now we can't wait anymore. So almost $500 and 3 days later, Dave will be fixing it this coming Sunday. Thankfully my dad is letting us borrow a car, because otherwise I have NO idea how I'd be getting to and from work, appointments and to get the kids.
So on a positive note, we are all doing ok. Kym is keeping busy getting ready for her first race. I head out to the gym every night after the boys go to bed. Mike's work is starting to pick up a little bit since it's getting nicer out everyday. The boys are boys. Colin vacuums all the time and Caden well, he's Caden. Courtney spends alot of time with friends and school work. And that is us lately! I promise to try to update more!
What does $4,300 buy you??
Braces. That is what it will buy you. Nothing else. How sad it that?? Pretty depressing to me. Not to mention that we have to come up with the $500 deposit before they can even START her plan. Thankfully the dentist does an interest free plan, but only for 22 months, so that is still $200/month. Blah…… Always something isn’t it??
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Remembering our Loved Ones
Thought of you with love today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, with which I'll never part. God has you in His keeping, I have you in my heart.
We Love you and miss you Jen! 4/4/08 & Les 06/12/08
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
We Made the Buffalo News!
How funny - this is the picture from the Buffalo News Paper. That's us in the middle of the hill, Mike and I walking down, pushing Courtney with our feet. She in the tube with the pink coat on and blue hood. What are the odds??
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