Trying To Catch Up!

Things have been busy around here still. The weather has been good and bad, warm and cold, and is wreaking havoc on Caleb's asthma. Gabe has been having some rough nights and some days, with frequent waking and accidents again. It's more of the one step forward two steps back kind of dance. All in all we are all doing fairly well, not overly sick or anything.
The dryer is still broken, so we are still hanging clothes. We are still waiting on news about our apps for the house we looked at. Mike is back to work full time and is even getting some Saturday work. We did finally get the van window replaced, to the tune of $100. But that still beats paying the $500 deductible.
School is hit or miss some days as far as getting actual written work done. But we always manage to get something read or looked up on the computer, and we are picking 1 thing a day that they want to learn more about and at least getting that accomplished. It takes some of the pressure off, because with it getting nicer out, they want to go to the park and be outside more. It gives us a chance to learn about things that we see or hear outside, or about the plants that we see coming up. We currently have our own plants that the kids are helping with as part of their schooling. That's another thing that is so awesome as of late with how the kids are learning.
Caleb found a pumpkin seed in Nintendo's (the bird!) dish. Neither Mike or I thought that it would grow, but we told him if he wanted to try and plant it he could. Imagine our surprise when a few days later it was already growing and had 2 leaves!! It is now 2 weeks later and the plant is like 2-3 inches tall and has been transplanted outside to its own box. He waters it every other day, and checks it daily to make sure that no critters got to it.
The younger 3 also each got a cactus when we went to Lowe's, they are called "Moon Cactus" and they only get about 5-6 inches tall, which makes them quite manageable. They came in very small pots, and we will be transplanting them soon. The plants are proving very useful in teaching Gabe especially how plants grow and how much water, sun, and nutrients they need. Gabe's learning how often the cacti need to be watered, and when to move them, how not to touch them and all that.
I've been trying to pack things that we aren't using and get rid of things that are too small or won't fit anyone within the next year or so. Just generally de-cluttering and de-junking the house. It's been kind of crazy most days, which makes it that much harder to get on the computer and post.
Hope to post more, not guaranteeing anything though!

Asthma, Allergies and Potty Habits

The last couple weeks have gone pretty fast. We're trying some new things with learning words and how to spell them with some magnetic letters on the front (metal) door. Caleb and Caitlin especially have been trying different combinations of letters to see how things are (and not!) spelled. Gabe is starting to get interested as well, and has told me what a LOT of those letters say and the sounds they make.
He has also started noticing the letters and numbers on his clothing. He asks what size if he's not sure and has asked for his favorite sweatshirt (the one with the 0 and the 7 on it) several times this past week. He knows all his colors and is very particular as to what he will wear. He's also still(!) wearing underwear all day and has had very few accidents. Still in pullups at night, and when he's not feeling well (like yesterday afternoon).
Caleb's asthma and reactive airway have been acting up again, I think mainly because of the change in weather and the fact that he's been spending so much more time outside. He's been wheezy a few times, and has even had a few accidents at night from getting so tired out from not breathing as good. So we are upping the nebulizer treatments for a while to help him even out.
He is now on Flovent and Proventil (inhalers), and Albuterol and Pulmicort (nebs), and Concerta and Methylin, with benadryl at night for his allergies and to help him sleep.

He and Gabe are doing well in the potty area, very few accidents and just wearing pullups for bed! Lots more stuff going on here, but have been so busy that I haven't had time to take a breath, much less post.
The rest of this week is going to be interesting, I have Adrian until his dad gets him on Saturday, and Austyn comes tomorrow to stay til Friday night! Plus of course my 4. Just slight chaos.

Gabe counted today! And Added!

Yup! For the first time EVER, not including the one time that his teacher got him to count to 3, my boy counted! Not to 3, not to 5, but to 10. We used M&M's and raisins to accomplish this magical feat. Told him if he could count them he could have them. And he counted all 10 M&M's. Then later, to make sure we could duplicate it, we did it again with raisins and mixed fruit. I'd put 2 in his hand and say "how many?" and he'd say 2, then I'd add 1, and say it again, and he'd say 3. On and on til 10. He mixes up 7 and 8. But he's trying! And he was sooooo thrilled that he did it (or maybe thrilled cause of the treats?).
Caleb wrote his first ever paragraph in his own words. He decided that he would write about teradactyls. Below is an excerpt, not spell corrected (yes he did ask how to spell some things):

"I think Birds was alive wen dinosaur was alive. A Bird is telodados (teradactyls). Telodados are big birds and thay die off. And now telodados are fostois (fossils). But because thay are istec (extinct) was a big firey rocks hit ever weir (everywhere) and Now thay are telodados fostois (teradactyl fossils) in the guon (ground)."

Not bad considering how hard he has to try to remember how to spell the words. He is in 2nd grade, doing reading and writing at a late kinder level. He's learning to capitalize and punctuate a sentence. He's also learning that sometimes you should look words up and not ask mom, cause she'll probably misspell it too (case in point: teradactyl. it looks ok to me, but blogger keeps underlining it, so I know I spelled it wrong. Just trying to get this post done before I get interrupted again!). That's all for now, gotta go chase kids!

Grrrrrr...One Of Those Kind Of Weeks!

Ok, first off, thank god it's Saturday and there's no school! Wednesday Caleb woke up with hives all over his entire body -- literally from scalp to the soles of his feet. So we went to the Dr., got a script for Prednisone, and directions to do a baking soda bath and give the Prednisone and benadryl along with tylenol for the fever he had. Thursday he still had the hives, so he was still home from school. Friday we went for allergy testing and of course that went well, he wouldn't let them near him, so we'll have to reschedule that. Long story short, the hives are gone, and we don't know what caused them.
Then yesterday, my computer cord decided to have an issue of it's own. As I was surfing the net, my cord started to smoke and spark, and it melted! It's covered under warranty, so I'll have a new one by Tuesday or Wednesday. Nothing more than a mild inconvenience, but it makes it harder to get online and post. Still waiting to see if anyone finds my blog, and if anyone has found it, waiting to see if they leave a comment or anything.
Not much else going on, except that the prednisone has really done a number on him. He's been hyper as hell and mouthy on top of it. Last night was a 2 hour ordeal, where he was throwing himself around and screaming. I really was worried that he may hurt himself. He threw everything within reach and was kicking the wall and the window, was throwing himself down on the bed and the floor. He's only got one more day to take it, but I'm still going to call the doc on Monday and tell him about last night. I want it documented in his records that he has a reaction to prednisone. Will post more when I get my new power cord.