Miracle Grow????

All of a sudden both of my kids seem to have sprouted. I do realize that both of my children are short, but to me they are getting really tall! Today I put an outfit on Ella from last summer, (all of her clothes from last year still fit, they are just a bit shorter!) and there were two things sticking out the bottom of her skirt that weren't there last year..... LEGS. Obviously she had legs last summer, but they were VERY short!!! I tried to find a picture of her in this outfit last year but couldn't. I couldn't help but think about how much Ella has changed in the past year, not just in her appearance (which is quite drastic) but in all that she can do. At this time last year Ella was still not even walking, knew maybe 2 or 3 signs, no words, couldn't eat by herself, no attitude problem : ) and on and on.

Before I post the pics I want to share a few things. First of all, I found out on Wednesday that I did get the job at Ella's school, Spokane Guild's School and Neuromuscular Center, as a team assistant. Meaning, I get to play with kids birth to 3 with disabilities and actually get paid to do it! I am SO excited and can't wait to start work on the 8th. I will be working 18 hours a week, 3 days a week so it is a perfect fit for me.

Also this past week we had Ella's IEP meeting with the school district for this upcoming school year. Seeing as Ella's 3rd b-day is August 30th she will begin the first day of school same as Hunter. The therapists and teacher threw me for a loop. They decided that they were not going to do what we had discussed in the past several meetings and have decided that they want Ella in the General Ed Preschool. WHAT???? She will be in the ECAP (like Headstart) preschool with "typical" kids and be pulled out for her therapies. While I am totally excited that they see how smart she is I am also totally terrified. Ella is such a baby!!!!! She is about half the height of the other kids, essentially non-verbal, and really I don't know that she is able to behave like other 3 year olds. They assured me that if it is too much for her they will put her in a special ed preschool class. It's so funny because my goal obviously is for her to be mainstreamed, it just kind of took me by surprise that it would happen so soon and without a fight! So, my little cutie pie smarty pants is going to big girl school this September!!!

OK now for the pics of Miss Thing today.......

Here is Ella one year ago!

Now for the cutest pic, despite the tongue sticking out....

One last thing.....Does anyone elses kid, that's Ella's age, love to lick things? All of a sudden Ella is obsessed with sticking her Gene Simmons like tongue out (seriously the thing goes down past her chin) and licking stuff, like people, TV's, tables at resteraunts, etc.......so strange!!!! I tell her to put her tongue in her mouth and she either purposefully starts licking more, or says no. *sigh*

Lack of blogging desire...

I don't know whats up, just that I have nothing to say these days I suppose. We have been busy, I will use that as my excuse : ) I am patiently (NOT) waiting to hear if I got the job at Ella's school, supposed to hear on Tuesday. Apparently we were supposed to find out last Friday, but they were waiting for my doctor to give me a medical release to work, (which was a nightmare to get. The doctor said that he consulted with another orthopedic doctor and they decided because of the type of fracture I have in my tibia that they would not give me a verbal nor written medical release. After freaking out, I asked if he would write that after the 8th of June he would release me, as this is my next x-rays and will be 6 weeks after the initial injury, he said sure and they faxed it over right away. Whatever.) I will be so pissed if, because it says I can be released on the 8th and the job starts on the 1st, I don't get the job because of my stupid leg.

Chris' dad, Papa, is here visiting right now and the kids have really enjoyed having him around, Hunter and Papa are out playing golf right now. Papa bought Hunter his own little golf bag and putter last night to add to two other clubs he got him on a past visit (real stuff not plastic) it's so cute!! I have really enjoyed having Papa around too, he is an excellent cook and has been fixing our meals!

Ella continues to be doing great. She adds daily to her vocabulary, right now my two favorite words of hers are purple and bubble, which she says both PERFECTLY!!! At school the other day she said "Help me please" while outside trying to climb a hill and then her teacher had yelled for a little guy to stop "Isaiah stop," and Ella yelled "ZAYA" very cute. I still get a bit frustrated though, she often pops off with words or phrases clear as a bell and in appropriate context only for them to never be heard again. It boggles my mind. I know she knows what she wants to say, and knows how but she still just babbles away. It's just so confusing. She has been showing her attitude a lot lately (nothing new there : ) she snaps at me when I tell her something, and will point at me with a dirty look on her face, and recently she has taken to shushing me, she puts her tiny little finger to her lips and blows, it is so hard not to laugh!

I went to the dermatologist this past Thursday to have a scalp biopsy done. I have had severely thinning (for me) hair ever since Ella was born. I realize that I do have a lot of hair, but there is half as much as there used to be, I don't mind the amount I have right now it's just that it is thinning mostly in the front. I have been doing this comb over thing, parting way over on one side, so that not so much scalp is showing. I am not particularly vain about my hair, but its all I got, people have commented on my hair my entire life. I had gone to a dermatologist in Texas and he has said that my loss was from extreme stress, it was about 8 months after Ella's birth, and it would come back. Well, Ella is almost 3 now, the stress I have now will probably not get any lower, maybe when the kids move out, if Ella moves out and even then not because then I would worry even more about her : ) This doc said that my pattern of loss is consistent with the typical female hair loss pattern, I asked as in old people? I am 29 for crying out loud!! Anyhow, he took two biopsies of my scalp which may I add HURT so now I have 3 stitches in my head which I am supposed to keep moist with Vaseline so I look all greasy. In addition I had a thing taken off my arm (not really a mole, something weird though and it always hurt) and that took an additional 3 stitches. So here I am stitched together, on a crutch all with greasy hair fun fun fun!!

OK, enough rambling here are a ton of pics taken in the past few weeks....

Ella and Riley

sitting on the

coffee table

watching Elmo

Tickle tickle

Hunter and Ella

laying on the

coffee table

watching

Bob-bob

We really do have furniture to sit on, but the kids prefer the table : )

Hunter's school

had a Mother's

Tea for Mother's

day.

It was so cute, they made little corsages and a little gift for us,

then they performed a few songs.

He sang but would

not do the

movements.

He's just too cool!

Our attempt at a

self picture of

Hunter and

mommy

b-day party at a

paint your pottery

place.

Hunter and Emily
(the b-day girl)
they are both 5


































Ella and Emily














Hunter and Emily's
brother Logan.
CUTE!






We painted Ella's
nails purple. It's
hard to see but she's
showing them off.











Ella dancing on the
table, *sigh*.












Hunter came home
from school and dumped
his hat and lunch box
on the floor.











She kept saying "BYE"
I said are you bubba?
She said "yes."


























What happens when
Ella sits on the new
couch. Still very
full of static







Ella's new hat
from Papa

Chuck E Cheese

Last Tuesday we went to Chuck E Cheese. The owner, Sam, twice a year invites Ella's entire school (Spokane Guilds School) and their families to come eat pizza and play for free. He is such a nice guy and is always there to visit with the families, he is just so sweet!! I can't even tell you how much fun the kids have there, especially Hunter. It's great for him to be included. Pics down below.

I WAS playing softball this summer, for the first time in 14ish years, and was having a blast. At the second practice I was running, my leg was fully extended and my heel stepped into a hole and POP. I walked around a bit and it was feeling fine so I continued to play. And then I attended another practice, and then two games. Well after the games my knee was a bit achy so I decided I had better get it checked out just in case. (When I was a teenager I hurt my other knee skiing. It took 5 surgeries and 3 years to repair it, so I was pretty freaked out when it first popped but it felt alright so...) I went into an Urgent Care last Friday, the 8th and they thought I had perhaps damaged a ligament so they scheduled me for a MRI that same night and scheduled a follow up with an Orthopedic doc for the next monday. Over the weekend my knee felt just fine so I was really hopeful that it was nothing. I go to the doc and find out that I broke my leg. Well, I fractured my tibia plateau, basically the top of the bone, right where it all connects to the femur. I most of asked the doc about a thousand times if he was sure, I mean seriously if your leg is broken should you be able to still play ball??? So, now I am supposed to be completely non weight bearing for 6 weeks, going in every Monday for X-rays. If the fracture grows at all the doctor told me I would have to go in for surgery and have a plate and pins put in. Great. But here is the thing, my leg does NOT hurt. Crutches are the most annoying thing ever, and let me tell you my ARMS hurt. So, the doc and I are going to go rounds this Monday at my weekly visit : )

I am currently in the process of interviewing for a job at Ella's school. This is my dream job. I would be basically a teacher's aide in one of the classes. This school only serves kids 0-3 with developmental and physical disabilities. I would work Mon, Wed, and Fri from 7:30 - 2:15. This school is SO amazing and inspiring, I can see myself working there for a really long time, if I am lucky enough to get the job. I already had one interview, which they picked the top 4 and invited us back for a class observation and to see how well you get along with the team, so that for me is on this coming Wednesday. I am so excited. EXCEPT for the fact that I am on stupid crutches. Again, the doc and I are going to have a little talk.

Poor Ella has a bit of a cold. We got this sinus rinse thing that my friend Mary's doctor recommended for her little guy Riley. Wow, that thing is way cool!! I have never seen such huge amounts of snot fly so far!!!

That's it for tonight......stay tuned for an important message!!!

Ella and Josie

Hunter and Josie

Playing B-ball

Ella, Leah and Piper

These 3 are all about

2 weeks apart in

age.

Ha ha, no one

can sit still for

long

Ella was so pooped

she had to rest

on Daddy's head!

So sleepy!

Hunter being goofy

Hunter with his

prize from his

tickets

American Idol???

Here is Ella today,

kind of sickly

But still so sweet : )

I had to be creative

with her hair so it

would stay out of

her boogers