Loving the outside and dreading it too.

We've really been loving all the outdoor time. We missed homeschool group this week but we're planning to go to the zoo with a friend from group to make up for it. Amanda is slimming down already. Neither girl misses school. I got the notes from Frankie's IEP meeting and had to giggle. Frankie still can't read much. On the notes they listed that she'd had inadequate reading and math instruction before school and also that she'd made no real improvement at school so she must have a learning disability. It's funny that when I taught her I was doing something wrong but when they taught her she had something wrong. Amazing. I would have come to the conclusion that she simply isn't ready yet and she's not. She isn't LD she is simply not ready yet and that is okay :-)

The kids love park days! I missed them so much. We didn't go to HS group this week because there wasn't a park day due to rain. I don't think I mentioned that Chris got his CPR card at MRU last week. It was a really fun class. The kids learned a lot and had fun.

Now for the dread. Nicholas almost got hit by a car. It was no one's fault really. A man opened the door at the office we were in and he jetted out. The car swerved and missed him as I pulled him out of the way right before sliding into the pavement. It missed me by about a foot. As much as I'm against it, this little one will be using a leash from now on. I can't get the image of the car coming toward him out of my head. I can't stop thinking that he could not be here with me right now. That he could be hooked up to machines never to wake up and be the Nicky I know. I'm fairly certain I'll have nightmares about this if the road rash doesn't keep me up. This stuff is painful. Getting it wet is like being burned over and over. Fun stuff.

Nicky the nursling

Nicky is still very much in love with the boobs. I was on the phone today with my aunt and I told him to get off of me so I could type. My aunt and I have had it out before about nursing so she chooses her words very carefully. She asked, "Does he drink whole milk?" I told her he doesn't so she asked about soy. I told her yes, he likes it. She said, "Oh, maybe he'll take it out of a bottle." I told her he was too old for a bottle and drinks from a cup just fine. I could hear her getting ready to say something else but she stopped herself, LOL. I know she has seen him drink stuff so I'm not sure what her deal was with the bottle thing. I guess she thinks I don't like nursing him or he shouldn't be. Neither is true. I'm quite happy to nurse him and so is he. I want him to still be nursing until he's ready to be done. Another thing they find weird about me, I guess.

The terror, er....toddler

Nicky is a very spirited toddler. He's got very little impulse control and shows almost no fear unless you put a Great Dane in front of him(THAT was funny!). He is horrible at the library and we've all but given up. We didn't take him enough when he was small. Between my lack of enthusiasm for our old library and my pregnancy, we just didn't go very often. I've decided to teach him library etiquette because I NEED to go! I'm taking him in a stroller and I plan to move quickly. He doesn't go running like he used to because I proved I would leave his little butt behind! Okay, I actually told him good-bye and hid behind a bush but it worked! Now that I've fixed that issue the library should be easy, right? Let's hope!

Update: I think we'll leave library trips for when Mack's home. Nicky can stay with him. It went Oh, so well! Not only did he yell the whole time but he also pushed his stroller with half the books in it down the stairs. Not even Aaron cut me a break. He pooped out of his diaper, through his tee shirt, outfit AND my baby carrier. We were there all of 15 minutes and it'll take quite a bit of bravery to show my face again. At least we all got books and I got book 4, 5, and 6 of the Artemis Fowl series.

Back to being me!

Mack isn't around all the time anymore. He's been working on and off for the last couple years now. He really likes the security thing but it's really unstable in our area. He got a new position with MUCH more stable hours and comparable pay that isn't in the security field. I'm so glad he's not home all the time anymore, not to mention that we'll have extra money again. I can't be me when he's around. I get lazy and cranky. Since he's been away I have been early for all my appointments, the house stays clean and the kids don't fight or mess up around the house as much.

My girls are HOME! No more school, I couldn't take it anymore. I feel so much better, the stress was killing me! I missed them so much and I was really tired of feeling like the school owned my children. I found the work they did before they started school. Amanda has lost so much of the phonics she tried so hard to learn. Frankie hasn't improved but she hasn't lost any ground either. Now I know for sure I haven't done anything wrong aside from put her in school that is. I'll keep letting her go at her own pace. She's really interested in history and geography right now so I guess that is where the focus will be. We made a really cool time line the other night and she found a history of the world sticker book. She wants to put the things we read about in the sticker book on our time line. It should be a fun project. She is also into sight words. I ordered Picture Me Reading a couple years ago and the words are pictographs. She really likes those and she has a thing for flashcards. She put them some in the pockets of my pocket chart and is now 'teaching' the words to Zachary. They both seem to enjoy it. Amanda is all into writing stories. She spends most of her days asking me how to spell things. I put all the words she asks me to spell up on the wall so she can see them and doesn't have to interrupt her writing to ask me again. She wants to learn to write in cursive so I'll order her a Handwriting Without Tears book. Their approach is easy and not too stressful. I think it'll be fun for her. Chris isn't into anything right now. He still loves his rats but isn't reading much on them. He's just enjoying holding them and talking t them. Zach loves to have books read to him so I'm either reading to him or his Tag is. I really like the Tag system and so does he. I didn't think he would. He had it for 3 months before he decided he liked it. He's also hunting unicorns. It's really cute. I promised to build him a cave and buy him a bunch of toys and food for it if he finds one. No luck yet, but he hasn't given up! Yesterday we had a great day at Morton's Arboretum. I got teased about the girls being at group instead of school again but this time they WERE at school. Everyone welcomed them back officially. It was a great feeling!

Aaron had his 2 month check up today. I went because I had planned on getting the newborn screening redone and forgot the card so it's still not done. I will get around to it one of these days. He's getting so big! He's 24 inches long and 13 pounds 7 ounces. He's grown out of his 0-3 months clothes but he still wears them around the house. If he gets much taller he won't be able to, not to mention they are getting pretty snug.

I'm getting back into bulk cooking slowly. I made a HUGE pot of meat sauce yesterday before and after group. I browned the meat before we left and finished it when I got home. It tastes wonderful! I thought I burned it. Nicky took a spill while it was cooking and I forgot it was on. In the end Nicky was fine, though he did limp a little for the rest of the night, and so was my sauce.

Anger doesn't touch how I'm feeling!

I finally got tired of the school. I had planned to write a withdrawal letter for my girls and mail it today. They went in for half the day. When Frankie got there she was in tears because she didn't want to be there. By the time she got home she was saying how much she LOVES school and wants to go next year. What happened here? Way to manipulate my kid. I'm not pulling her if she doesn't want me to but now I don't think she knows what she wants. I wish I hadn't sent her at all. Now my letter includes one child. Amanda is %100 sure she doesn't want to go anymore and she won't be.

On a better note, it's 80 degrees today and we're heading out! I'm taking them to the part until my Friend is done gardening and we'll meet her after that. We will also try to stop by the county clerk to show them the baby and sign his birth certificate.

What did I do?!?

I seem to have eaten something that does not agree with Aaron. His newborn acne had finally cleared and I was admiring his nice moist soft skin only to wake yesterday and find him completely broken out. I have no clue what I could have eaten to cause that so now this pretty complexion is back to how it was except it's not just his face this time but his whole body! Joy. I did have a slice of provolone on a sub, I wonder if that did it? If so, that really makes me worried. His milk sensitivity would be much worse than Nicky's. When Nick was small I would just avoid milk and ice cream but I ate cheese is small amounts. It would cause him to cry but it didn't physically affect him the way it has with Aaron. I guess I will have to cut ALL dairy. His poop is also green again which is another sign of a food sensitivity. I think I'll keep a food diary and cut the dairy. Hopefully we'll see some improvement. My poor guy, I feel awful :(

Party! Super short post.

My aunt's birthday party was last night. The children had a wonderful time! It took me all day to get them ready only for not to take a single picture. Hopefully, some one will send me a few of the pictures that were taken.