Cooper's 3!

I can't believe it's Cooper's 3 today! Time flies by too fast. We gave the boys donuts before daycare to celebrate this morning. Cooper has chosen the "jumpy house" for tonight. I'm making cupcakes today. This being at home thing is great, so I can do things like have time to make cupcakes. I made them for Ken's birthday last week...they turned out okay. I'm also taking Tucker out to get Cooper's present today. He's getting a new comforter for his big boy bed, a puzzle (he loves them) and a Winnie the Pooh bean bag chair.

Vacation Bible School is this week, we are just going to skip it tonight, but the boys have had a good time. They sing the songs all the way home in the car, and tell me about the bible stories they learned. Cooper has a little separation anxiety at first. He knows I'm working registration in the lobby, so he's come out crying a few times, but he eventually gets back into class...he really likes doing the crafts. He was very proud of his telescope the first night.

Morning

Great morning so far. Slept in with Tucker. Grilled some chicken for later tonight. Experimenting with dehydrating pineapple, getting laundry done, now Tucker is back asleep for a cat nap. He is TOO cute sleeping here next to me on his tummy (no worries, I'm watching him!) with his knees tucked up under him and his butt up in the air!

Tucker

Tucker Jackson Moss was born April 29, 2010 at 8:29 pm, weighing 8 pds, 11 ounces. I certainly cannot recap the past 8 weeks, so I'll just start from here. I am out on maternity leave this summer. James is going to floyd knight summer program, and Nathanael and Cooper are at Abundant Life daycare while I stay home with Tucker. Of course he is not on any kind of schedule yet, so I didnt want to try and keep the older boys home, knowing I need to sleep when the baby does, and I would hate to keep the older boys from doing fun things bc Tucker is asleep or whatever. They are all having fun. Ken and I take all the boys swimming about 4 days a week over at his parents house in the evenings when Ken gets off work. I've taken Tucker for a little dip twice. He likes the water. James and Nathanael are good little swimmers! They can swim down to the bottom of the deep end, and Cooper wears floaties, but is not scared.
Tucker had his 2 month shots today. there is nothing more pitiful than seeing your little man in pain like that. The screaming hits me right in my soul. He was fussy for awhile right after, then he finally calmed down when I nursed him, then he's been asleep for about 4 hours, which means he'll most likely be up all night. Oh well! He is 8 weeks, 23 inches long, and 11 pounds, 14 ounces. He's at the 50th percentile for height and weight. I knew he was perfect! I try to remember back to when Cooper was just a few months old, and i can hardly remember...time goes by so fast, and they grow so fast. Cooper is potty training now...has't had an accident in over a week, so I'd say he's doing great!

BIG

Lady at Work: "Are you SURE you are not having twins? I mean, you've just gotten SO big, SO fast. I mean, I've heard about people having twins when one baby was hiding behind another. What would you do? I mean, I don't mean to offend you, but really, you've just gotten big so fast..." and on and on she went.

Really?

Boy, oh boy, boy, boy!

Can you belive we are having a boy?!

weekend

A nice weekend. The boys have been asking to have a fire outside for some time. So we told them they would have to work really hard for it, which consisted of raking leaves and hauling them to the burn pile. They really did work hard…with lots of pile jumping fun throughout the day. The neighbor boys (Grant – 4 and Blake – 3) came over with their rakes and helped too. After it was all said and done, the boys got their fire (in a much smaller, contained wood burning grill) and marshmellows to roast. They ate an entire bag. We need a Sam’s Club membership.
Sunday was the Sanford parade. The boys enjoyed it, ,mostly the candy being thrown out. Nathanael and Cooper danced along with the Lee Senior band, which was pretty humorous.

a good morning

a nice morning in the moss household. Ken had Nathanael help him make breakfast burritos for everyone while I helped James write his letters. Cooper kinda ran in between the 2 of us. Just relatively quiet and all boys got plenty of attention.

14 weeks and counting

So if you don't already know, I am pregnant. Holy cow! How did that happen? Oh yeah... When we told the boys, Nathanael started crying and said "I don't want another baby", to which Ken replied "it's okay buddy, mommy and daddy had the same reaction". James followed with "is that why you're fat mommy?" Gotta love it.

Fair

So, once again I have misplaced my camera, which has all the pictures from the summer on it. I have not seen it since we got back from the river. I just hope it didn't get thrown out with some of the fast food trash from the trip. I keep thinking it'll turn up... but until then, I'll have to chronicle the boys' days in words, which certainly don't do justice to those cuties. This week was the Lee County Fair..."not big like the West Virginia State Fair" according to James, but all the fun, just the same. Ken and I took James and Nathanael, leaving Cooper with his parents. He's too little to know he was missing something, and too little to ride most of the rides anyway. He got personal mawmaw and pawpaw time, which was equally as fun for him. We also took our neices, Elizabeth and Heather, which they were a HUGE help. They rode all the rides with the boys so I didn't have to get sick on them!! Typically, the boys are in bed around 8:30....9:15 at the latest on the weekends. Well, between the expense of the fair (we sure couldn't take them a second day!) and all the fun they were having, I couldn't stand to tell them we had to go....so it was 10:00 before they hit the sheets. They rode tons of rides - it really wasn't very crowded. They did the hall of mirrors at least 6 times, Nathanael rode a live pony while James rode one "bog boy" ride which scared him to death, they all had cotton candy, we listened to some music, and rounded the night out with watching a circle track dirtbike race. Could you really ask for more? What exhausted boys this morning!! They all took good naps at daycare/pre-K today.

The sensory-seeking child

So you spend your evening entertaining and discipling your three little boys. You try to teach them to play nicely, share, be kind, and by the end of the night, you are yelling at them to speak nicely to eachother, don't talk so mean and "god-almighty, if you hit your brother one more time I'm gonna pop your hiney"!!! How exactly is that teaching tolerance? How does one teach 3 toddlers to play nicely? Whether it's a structured activity or a "free" play time...it always seems to result in disciplinary measures...or in some cases, hysterical laughter after they've repeated something you've said. Case in point:
Nathanael: "Mama, I wanna go ride bikes wit you!!! Why can't I go ride my bike wit you?!"
James: "Because Nate-Nate! Mommy's going to lower her blood pressure!"
10 minutes on a bike never felt so good. Even though I was pulling a 31 pound 2 year old behind me. At least he quietly enjoyed the ride!

Back from the River

We spent the past week at my aunt Phyllis' "River House" in WV and had a great time. The boys had been anxiously awaiting a return trip to the river house, and it proved to be as fun as they remembered. The weather was great - much cooler than here. Some showers in the afternoon which made for great napping. My parents came and the boys love them to death, so that made it great, plus they were so much help that Ken and I felt like we really gotr a much needed break. The boys 100% are "river boys"....digging for worms, playing ball in the back field, walking on the Greenbrier River Trail, looking for bears, canoeing, and most importantly, swimming in the river until they were pruney, no matter how cold the water (it really was only cold one morning). Cooper thoroughly enjoyed it all, but definately liked the little floaty "boat" to sit in while James and Nathanael swam for long periods. I think he just gets too cold...but he wanted to be out there for sure, and he loved the canoe rides. His vocabulary blew up this week. He is repeated SO many words now! He can moo like a cow now (he also thinks dogs, cats, horses and snakes moo too, but that's okay!). My parents took us to the WV State Fair one day. I forgot how fun that was. Not too many people, but lots to do. The boys rode alot of rides, and there were several that Cooper got to do. They climbed on all the tractors and saw lots of animals. They smacked the big 'ol cows on their rumps and rubbed the big pigs' bellies. This is where Mimi (my mom) taught Cooper to moo like a cow and wiggle his nose like a rabbit. Overall, a great time had by all! Oh! And one of the best parts is that my friend from high school (Jill) brought her two boys + her sisters two boys one day. So we had 7 boys ages 4 and under. What a trip!

Successful Day

I was so proud of our boys today. We went to church, and then directly down to visit with one of Ken's college friends who was in town visiting. This of course meant no nap for the two older boys. We went prepared with a pack-n-play, bc we knew Cooper would never make it, and he needs his crib or pack-n-play to sleep. Granted, we were at a lake, so the boys got to swim the whole time, which is absolutely thier favorite activity, but they were just really well behaved and I was so proud of them. There were alot of other kids there age 5 and under. We really kept an eye on Cooper (once he woke up) to keep him from injuring the other kids. He is really hitting and scratching HARD. Last night, my friend's 4 year old son wouldn't get off her lap bc Cooper had already whooped-up on him. I think our planning ahead helped everything too. At 6:00, after the boys had been swimming for 4 hours straight (literally), I made them get out and eat a hamburger, to avoid a starvation meltdown. And we gave them a 15 minute, and 5 minute warning that we were getting ready to leave. So, no major meltdown when it was time to go. We had only been in the car 10 minutes and Nathanael was completley conked out...and I mean this kid NEVER falls asleep in the car. They definately had a fun day. They had their first boat ride and loved it, so we will try to take them out on the Moss family boat before the summer is over.

Someone else understands

For almost two years now (can you beleive it), we've dealt with Nathanael's ups and downs, and I've tried to verbalize what it's like and how I feel, but I never feel like anyone truly understands. Until now. A friend of mine adopted her son and birth and wrote the following post on her blog. He is older than Nathanael, but she so elequently put into words the feelings I so often have about the cotton-topped cutie at our house. Here it is:

Glimmers of grace
This summer has been stuffed with fun activities that you simply can't do during the school year. Mornings spent harvesting vegetables in the garden, sleepaway camp, educational and fun day camps, trips out for lunch, afternoons playing in the town fountain, and lazy days hanging around the house.But when your child has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, those activities can be bookended with frustration and meltdowns like twin mountains that seem insurmountable. You want your child to have a fantastic summer that he'll remember forever. Instead, you feel like the biggest failure for pushing him out of his comfort zone and not being able to find your zen space when he pushes back at you.You want him to look forward to meeting new kids and experiencing the types of things you never had the chance to. You make plans and sign paperwork and make 18 copies of his medical record. You fill carts with flash lights, ponchos, sunscreen, water shoes, heavy drawing paper, watercolors, craft kits, sun hats, disposable cameras, and portable snacks. You lay ground work. You talk about the day's plans as though they include a rocket trip to the moon because they are just that fabulous.But inevitably, your child's brain is working against you. His chemical makeup is running the show and you can only shuck and jive for so long before those chemicals catch on to your ruse and slam shut any possibility that your child will walk into new situations willingly and with a good attitude.What you want: Bright eyes and a hopeful smile.What you get: Slammed doors, sucked teeth, tooth brushing that takes 10 minutes, hair brushing that takes longer, constant back talk, pillow fights with invisible enemies in place of getting dressed, streams of negative commentary from the back seat of the car, screwed and scrunched up faces, tears, jerking shoulders, stomping feet, arms and hands that wrench away from you.My son's attention disorder is somewhat controlled with 30 mg of Vyvanse every morning. Before that it was 30 mg of Concerta. But the behaviors above will never completely fade away. They are the good end of the spectrum. They are often the result of my poor planning as much as they are misfiring synapses.Because I know. I KNOW. Some of that could be avoided with careful orchestration. Rather than say we're going to the fountain and then find out the fountain is closed for some type of repair and face the resulting meltdown, I could say we're going for a drive and quietly shove a towel and swim trunks in my bag with my son never the wiser. Rather than say that today is the last day of camp and brave the inevitable tears and stomping when another day of camp rolls around on Monday (albeit for a whole new camp), I could say that today is the last day of THIS camp and Monday starts another.It's just ... hard. It's so incredibly hard to be "on" at all times and constantly weighing my words and actions and anticipating how a statement uttered on Wednesday can rip my morning apart by Monday. It's hard to take those deep breaths and stay calm in the face of an 8 year old storm of watery, angry brown eyes and too-thin lanky limbs.And it shreds us both when I wind up bellowing to the rafters: That's enough! Brush your teeth! Brush your hair! Put your clothes on! Eat your breakfast! WHY ARE YOU CRYING?Or when we're sitting in the rental car office and realize there's no way I can swing us by McDonald's for pancakes and get to camp by 9 am when it's 8:36 am and the rental staff is walking in circles. And I run through my arsenal of negotiations trying to convince him to eat something from his lunch bag and I promise (I promise!) to make it up to him tomorrow morning.But there is "You said!" and "I want pancakes!" and "I'm not eating if it's not pancakes!" and you know the child keeps losing weight and you'd strangle the rental staff if it wouldn't set a bad example and he has to eat something and maybe you can be late to camp but then he'll whimper and fret and worry himself to death over what time it is and why are we always late, Mama and this wouldn't be happening if you didn't make me go to camp, why can't I just stay home with you?! And everyone's watching and you're trying to whisper but it's not working and finally you have to be the bad mother who says: FINE! If you don't eat at least your granola, you won't get pancakes at all this week and you'll NEVER see a McDonald's pancake when I'm around.You know it's out of proportion. You know the people around you are giving each other The Look and shaking their heads because this woman clearly is allowing the tail to wag the dog.But you also know there are really good days. And that when it's over, when all is said and done, he'll emerge from the summer shining and happy. He'll boast to his friends about the time he went all week wearing the same pair of boxers at sleepaway camp, that he can identify compound and simple leaves, that he debuted in his first stage production, that he prefers watercolors to oils, and that king snakes aren't venomous but coral snakes are. He'll be condescending and authoritarian. He'll be decided and proud. He'll be grateful.So most days I just hold on, white knuckled, to that last day of summer when we look back and catch our breath. When we evaluate the past 90 days and wonder where the time went. When we reminisce about what we had and what we wanted and what we got. Most days I just hang in and pray for serenity, pray for tomorrow to be another chance to get it right.And then I have glimmers of grace. I have the precious rare comment, given lightly and likely then forgotten. I have the glimpse of what other parents hear more often. From his art teacher, with rain pouring down outside and my body steaming from trying to be in multiple places at once: He is a joy. He has tremendous talent. I am so impressed by him. You are so lucky.And so I blink back the tears and smile tightly and murmur thanks as I close my eyes and appreciate it. When I open them again, I try to fight back the doubt, the crushing, overwhelming doubt that I am not good enough for him. That I took him from a family who could handle him better and I was wrong. That things would be better for him without me as his mom.But I love him fiercely. And that has to be enough. I did take him. Willingly and with full understanding that our road would be rocky. I don't regret that decision for a minute. I pray for more grace. I pray that I will finally and for good get my shit together so that we have fewer meltdowns. I pray that we will soon learn to move frustration out of the way and allow the fear or nervous energy or excitement to present itself clearly so that we can welcome and work through it.Yes, I packed our summer. And most days our frolicking good time was clouded and marred by poor impulse control, inability to focus, inability to process and deal with a gamut of emotions, and the natural inclination of an extremely smart child to question and push and know. But those glimmers of hope and moments when someone sees past all of that straight into the heart of my child? They are what I'll remember

Fruit farm

We totally didn't know we were buying a fruit farm when we bought our new house, but it has turned out to be really great. Ken and I picked figs for quite awhile this afternoon and just barely touched the surface of all the figs! Some of them are so high that we can't get to them. we don't have a ladder high enough. The crop we picked today we washed and froze. There will be more to come. Froze a couple of bags of blueberries today too. They are just about at the end of their peak. And now we have a new fruit! It's some type of grape. I don't know what they are...bigger than a concord grape, purple, with a think skin. You just squeeze the grape a little and the inside comes out and is delicious. Better than the conconrds, I think. the concords really just need to be made into jelly.

While we picked figs, our neighbor, Allen (he's the same age as Ken's parents) rode our boys and his grandsons (ages 2 and 3) around in his goft cart. Oh the boys had a blast. Allen lives next to us, and his grandsons live behind us. It has really been great having them as neighbors!

Napless in Sanford

So James has decided that naps aren't for cool kids. So when we pick him up from daycare, his eyes are practically hanging down to his belly button bc he's so exhausted. So we've been having him lay down when he gets home...he completely crashes... therefore missing out on fun and then having to basically eat dinner, and the whole bedtime routine.

Cooper turned 2! Can you believe it?! I just can NOT believe he is TWO! He's really starting to immitate words really well. He is seriously the most precious child in the world. One of his favorite things is to have every pair of shoes put on and off a hundred times. I think it's because he can say "on" and "off" and he actaully gets the response he was looking for. The funniest thing he immitates is his mawmaw and pawpaw yelling at their dogs to hush. They have 2 yapping chiuauas (sp?). When he walks in their door he hollers "shriristomogo!" in a very demanding voice.

And if you can actually believe this...James and Nathanael are really and truly riding thier bikes without training wheels!!! At 3 1/2, Nathanael, our daredevil decides he's done with the pansey-ass training wheels. He took off across the yard like it was nothing. So then big brother James decides to try it and he could do it too! I'm seriously amazed. Don't get me wrong, they still fall, but they just hop right back up and go again!

Sorry, sideways....Here's Nathanael at Deopt Park in downtown Sanford. It's one of the boys' favorite places. He's climbing on the train

When Mimi came to vistg last week, she brought really cool art supplies that the boys thouroughly enjoyed.

This is one of Cooper's favorite spots - sitting on his daddy's foot and getting a horsey ride.

Nathanael has done great at daycare the past 1 1/2 weeks. It could be several things...we've started back brushing him faithfully twice a day. He has a new teacher (we'll see when the newness wears off), we've taken him swimming several times a week - giving him lots of time to get his energy out, he sleeps under "Mimi's snuggly", the weighted blanket my mom got him, which he loves...so, just not sure what it is, but we sure are enjoying the good reports from daycare.

Some pics - finally!

James is tall enough to ride the swings! Familu fun day at our church two weeks ago.

Cool dude Nathanael with daddy's sunglasses

Seriously? Is a little boy allowed to be this cute? Cooper will be 2 this month!

Blueberries

Holy blueberries, batman!! So, we've moved to our new home. Life has been crazy hectic with packing and moving and unpacking and all that goes with it. The boys love the new house, they each have their own bedroom, a playroom, a big hallway to run up and down. And the back porch is wonderful. Actually, the whole propoerty is great. We have enough blueberry bushes for all of Sanford. Tonight we all went out to one bush that gets full sun and we picked for probably an hour...not a single blueberry made it back to the house. The boys ate them all. They were blue from ear to ear. I'll be making blueberry muffins, pancakes, syrup, anything I can come up with. We also have a huge tree we can eat straight off of, and the boys love those too. We have grape vines out the ying yang...they won't be ready to pick for awhile. And we have several pecan trees. I think we are going to make alot of great memories here!

What a weekend!

How did I manage to get through this whole weekend with no pictures!! Please, anyone who took some...send my way! This weekend we had the boys celebration for the adoptions being final. Friends and family came in town for the shin-dig, and friends from Sanford too. Of course we had some of the boys' friends over, so we had a pinata and a bouncy house. It was hotter than you know what, so we added ice cream to the fun. I hope all the kids had fun - they seemed to. I know our boys had fun - they want another adoption party. Sorry guys! Then Sunday we had the boys dedicated at church, which was really nice. Ken's parents, bro, sister in law, aunt, neices and nephews came, as well as my mom and step-dad. The boys were sorely disappointed when all the excitement was over this afternoon. Back to the old grind...
Small world story...so my aewsome friend Jill from high school came with her kids, her mom, and her sister and her kids. Jill lives in TN, her mom in WV, and her sister Jenni lives in Winston-Salem. The night before they came, Jenni was telling her neighbor across the street that she was going to a party for this family down near Sanford that had adopted 3 boys..... and her neighbor says, "are you talking about Meg Galperin?" How crazy is that!? It was Caroline Barrett! Caroline is Robin's best friend from growing up.
So, if I get some pics (I know my step-mom took a bunch), I'll post asap.

Precious

Nathanael proudly poses in front of daddy's freshly painted race car!

You go, James!

Okay, so here's my chance to brag on my Jamsey-poo. He got into big boy school! There is a pre-K in Sanford that has 1/2 four-year olds with disabilities and 1/2 four-years olds who are developing typically. Kids "try out" (they call it screening, but what can they really know in a 30 minute screening?) and they try to determine who will be the best role models for the children with disabilities. James got picked! How cool is that! I guess he did use his "pleases and thank yous"! He'll start next school year, which is great because he and Nathanael would have had to be in the same class at daycare. This pre-K is a little more like kindergarten. He'll go to the cafeteria for lunch, have gym class and art class. But, he'll still get to take a nap, play on the playground alot, and other typical 4 year old stuff. Best of all, it's cheaper than daycare! And the child to teacher ratio is 1:5. The daycare regulations are 1:15 once they turn 3. Can you imagine having 15 three year olds by yourself all day! Augh!! Anyway, James is super excited and I'm super proud.

Tired

Cooper has barely slept through the night since he had surgery. He is really hard to put down...used to hold him for a few mintues and then lay him down and he might cry for 5 minutes max. Now, you hold him till he's all the way asleep and as soon as you make a move for the crib he grabs onto you and starts screaming bloody murder, like "put me down and I'll just die!". This goes on for about 1/2 hour. Last night, he was so tired he fell asleep immediatley, no crying at all...but about 2:00 AM he woke up and the screaming commensed. Oh my gosh...did it commense. I finally gave in after an hour and put him in bed with us. I was too tired... I can't wait for his follow up visit.

Update

Well, I finally signed up for Facebook and that thing is a little addicitive, so I haven't had time to Facebook and post on the blog! Things have been hectic around here. We just got finished with a big accreditation thing at work, thank the lord it is over! Cooper had tubes put in his ears last Thursday, as well as having his adnoids out. He's been pretty pitiful the last few days. He perked up a bit today, but is not eating/drinking much, so that concerns me a little - if you know Cooper, you know he loves his food!! Nathanael's Occupational Therapy is going really well. It's a matter of Ken and I making sure we keep up with his 'brushing' sessions. We have a brush that we briush his whole body with 3 times a day, and then we compress his major joints. The compressions are supposed to simulate gross motor (like jumping). I don't really understand the whole thing, I know it has to do with his problems with his sesnory delays, but all i know is...it is helping a lot! The first week, he was like a completley different child. So James is acting up a little...both his brothers are getting lots of attention, and it's so hard to even it all out, and make sure they all know that we love them the same. Cooper is wanting to do more and more things with his brothers, but still pulling their hair and grabbing at their faces, which makes them so mad! We can definately tell Cooper is hearing better since the surgery...no new words really, but he can hear for sure, and is trying to imitate some sounds, so that's all very promising.

Last few weeks

We've had a busy few weeks. Last week, we had snow...not regular NC sprinkle snow, but like 6 inches!! Of course there was no work or daycare for 2 days, so we bundled up the boys and hit the slopes, uh, I mean, our back yard. They LOVED sledding! The 2nd day was even better bc the snow had packed down and was a little more wet, so they could go faster and further. Cooper enjoyed himself until snow got under his gloves and then he was miserable, so his snow adventure wasn't as long lived.

Of course, now all three boys are sick. I swear I bundled them up! Cooper has a double ear infection (again!) and James and Nathanael woke up about 2:00 this morning coughing, sneezing, etc. I ended up sleeping with James in the reecliner because he couldn't breathe. Thank the lord for my in-laws. They kept them today, I really couldn't miss work.

And, James turned 4 and Nathanael turned 3!! We just had the family over for dinner, cake and ice cream. Of course for the boys, cake was the whole point.

I think Cooper liked the cake the best!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

The adoption decree was signed and sealed by the judge on January 12, 2009!!!!!!!
James Conrad, Nathanael Reid and Cooper Dawson are and alwyas will be a part of the Moss family!!!!

LUCK

I guess you can call it that. Our house has been on the market less than 4 weeks. One person looked at it, and made an offer we accepted. How crazy is that! We expected it to take at least a year! We so totally have not found a house we like...we're probably going to rent somewhere. We definately don't want to settle on a house. We love our current house, just moving so we'll be in a school district closer to work/church/Ken's parents. Right now we are over the county line, which would mean lots of inconvenience once the boys start school. So, the mad house hunt begins. James wanted to know how we were going to take the pond with us. Oh, to be a kid again!

Catch Up

Christmas was a whirlwind! The boys had a great time from beginning to end, with both sets of grandparents, bikes from Santa and chocolate to their hearts delight!

But really, I have to blog about our social butterfly Nathanael, who talks to anyone he sees. He usually starts with 'what's your name?' Normal. But oh no...he came out with a whopper in the line at the grocery store yesturday. Cooper was sitting in the seat facing me, and James and Nathanael were sitting in the "car" at the front of the cart, facing forward. In the line next to us was a teenage boy bagging groceries. And Nathanael looks at him directly in the eye and clear as a bell asks "Why you got worms on yo head?" How could I not bust out laughing!!! Luckily, the guy took it in good humor and just told him it was his hair (dreadlocks), not worms.

Nathanael...

had a great day all around. Worth mentioning!

Anyone Else?

Am I the only parent that blames themselves for everything? Cooper's evaluation came back from the CDSA (the Infant Toddler program in our area that deals with developmental delays) and it shows he has a 6-9 month delay in speach and 3-6 month delay in language comprehension. They seem to think there is an auditory processing problem more than a hearing issue. Basically, he can hear what we say, but it doesn't process correctly...so if I say "shoes", he hears something like "cumquats". They did not rule out a hearing problem though, so he has to have an audiologist exam. After the new year, he will start speach therapy once a week, and also community-based rehab services that focus more on object identification and sign language. I can't help but to feel like I should have call the CDSA earlier when we were worried about his lack of speach. We did have him evaluated at 3 months, but he tested normally. I just wonder if I should have spent more time trying to get him to say sounds and stuff if that would have helped. I just thought he would pick it up from his brothers. It's just really distressing.

And then Nathanael's "fits". Can he control them, or is it a lack of impulse control or what? The CDSA recommended he get a psychological evaluation and do to a sensory clinic for an eval. The sensory clinic will see if responds better to different things (I think). It's like...does he literally HAVE to scream in order to feel better...like a baby who can't console themselves without a pacifier.

At least we got alot of resource possibilities, and hopefully everything will work out well. In the meantime, my head hurts.

Bloggin

So, I haven't blogged in awhile bc I haven't really had anything to blog about, and I still don't, but decided I'd at least write about what we've been up to. Our house is on the market. Anyone out there looking for a 3 bedroom double-wide on 8 acres of beauty, let me know. Don't let the double-wide scare you off...the wheels are no longer under the house...and you're only a redneck if you can actually drive your house off the lot!! It's hard to think about leaving this place, it is so peaceful and quiet and there's tons of room to play. But really the reasons we're wanting to move is so the boys will be in a school district closer to where we work/go to church/Ken's parents. But, we also want each boy to have their own room, and we are keeping hope alive that one day, Anna may get to be with us. We looked at several houses this weekend, but nothing we loved in our price range. There was this one house that reminded me alot of my aunt Phyllis' cabin in WV. It had this awesome screened in porch looking out in the woods, and just across the lot was access to a private lake where you can fish and swim and canoe. It also has a double garage that Ken really wants. Unfortunatley, it's about $30K out of our price range. Darn money... doesn't it grow on trees anymore? We'll keep looking.

Tonight was one of those totally spastic nights. I went to the grocery store after work and when I got home, the boys had just finished eating and Cooper was crying and crying and crying. The only time he would stop is if I picked him up. Ken and I were trying to put away groceries, and of course Nathanael and James want to help. So the boys are hollering "where does this go?!", Cooper is whailing for whatever reason, and I was just like "oh my god, someone turn it down!". A night in the life of the Moss family. Anyway, Ken got Cooper interested in listening to letter sounds (we're supposed to try and get himn to move his mouth/cheeks in different shapes), and I got James and Nathanael into the shower. We don't do showers real often, but it was already getting late, and it's just faster. After pajamas, a story, telling daddy goodnight, and tuck--ins, we moved on to getting Cooper's eardrops in. That's fun. Poor little guy has double ear infections again (maybe that was what all the crying was about?)