Over the winter break, we spent a good amount of time teaching the kids how to ride their bikes w/o training wheels. Let me restate this: Joel taught them to ride while I got in some walking exercise with Nathan. Blake learned on the first day, pretty much. Julianna took a full 2 weeks. We are so excited that they can ride now!
 (Sorry about the poor video quality--for some reason blogger does this to all my videos! You can see it on facebook too.)

Julianna's 9th birthday--December 6th

I'm a little late on this, but didn't want to forget to post about Julianna's 9th birthday. A while back I posted about how Julianna kept asking for a baby for her birthday. We couldn't believe that my due date ended up being December 4th, 2 days before her birthday! And then Nathan came on December 5th, just one day before her birthday! Of course I was still in the hospital, and my mom was still here helping, but we were able to call Julianna before she went to school on her birthday, and she got lots of surprises at school from her teachers and aides! My mom sent some cookies to give to her class, too. Then later that night, my mom drove to the hospital with the kids and we were able to have a little birthday celebration with some cake, and she opened some presents. The best gift was being able to see Nathan for the first time, and even hold him! It was a special birthday for her. She really loves Nathan and keeps saying, "I wish he could be MY baby." I can't believe Julianna is 9 years old now! She is getting really big and smart, and doing so well in school, and she LOVES playing with Blake now--they are little buddies (most of the time!) Happy birthday to Julianna!

Nathan's first month

4 weeks old

3 weeks old

2 weeks old

1 week old

One month old--January 5th! He is starting to smile at us now! Things to remember from Nathan's first month: He weighed in at 9 lbs even at his last appt. with the specialists, and they are happy with that! His weight gain should continue, and feeding him is becoming much easier. He is a good night sleeper--he's already gone up to 6 hours! He usually is asleep by 12 and up again at 4 or 5, and then not until 7 or 8. He loves staring at our faces very intently. He gets the hiccups a LOT still. The kids are now asking to hold him a lot--they love him! Joel is very good at feeding him with the special bottle. When he is hungry, he's HUNGRY and screams until his food is ready, which is a little slower since I have to warm the bottle and put a little formula powder in it. Pumping is not easy, but I'm going to go as long as I can! He is starting to show his personality, and can hold his head up for a few seconds on his tummy. We love having Nathan around!

Nathan Arlo Washburn

 

Nathan Arlo Washburn, born December 5, 2012, at 4:55 pm. 8 lbs. 15 oz, 20 1/2 inches. A FULL head of red hair!

 

My delivery was actually very easy! I had my induction scheduled for Dec. 4th at 8 pm (my due date) and when it came time, the hospital was full! So we waited for them to call when there was a room available and at 10:30 we were finally on our way! I was given cervidil (sp?) to soften my cervix for 12 hours, so that night we just slept in the hospital. By morning I was having regular contractions, which wasn't supposed to happen on cervidil, so I must have gone into labor on my own anyway. By noon they were getting intense, and I was at a 4 by 1 pm. At 3 pm I was given an epidural at 5 cm dilated. I told the doctor that once my water breaks my babies come within two hours, so he broke my water right after the epidural. They also gave me pitocin, which I don't think I needed at all! By 4:30 my contractions were so strong--the epidural was not taking all the pressure away and it was INTENSE! I've never felt anything like it. I'm pretty sure he was posterior, or facing my back, because I really felt him. Around 4:50 I felt so much pressure that I told the nurses I had to be really close. They left to get the doctor. Meanwhile Joel didn't even realize how close I was--he was in a chair across the room. All of a sudden I felt something--I asked Joel and he said, I think that's the head? He called the nurses back in and sure enough, little Nathan decided to make his appearance on his own--I had not even pushed at all! The nurses rushed in and Nathan literally came out without one push--I was never told to push once. The doctor wasn't even there yet! So three nurses delivered me, and they did an amazing job. So I went from a 5 to a 10 in less than 2 hours! And for the third time now, the first thing I hear from the nurses is, "you've got a redhead!" So we now have three redheaded kids! Nathan is SO cute and reminds me a lot of Blake in his behaviors and need to EAT! Since this is mostly family and close friends reading, I feel like I can share this: he was born with a bilateral cleft palate--they found it after delivery. It is something that can be corrected through surgery when he is very young, and it is solely in his mouth. The problem is he cannot breasfeed, so I am pumping for him, and he has to work harder to feed because he does not have the same suction as a typical baby. So I am learning a lot about this condition and he will be seeing specialists until it is corrected. But we are so proud of him so far--he has a healthy appetite and wants to eat a lot! I am getting the hang of feeding him with his special bottles and syringe/tube feedings. Joel is also able to feed him, and the kids, too, which is fun! We love our little Nathan and can't wait to see him grow! We love having him in our family.

Blake turns 6 on November 16th

 

 

At school on his birthday. I brought his class some mini cupcakes. He's wearing the birthday crown.

 

Julianna got to join his class at school, too.

 

They had some extra time before the bell rang at the end of the day, so what does he go do? Play tetherball, of course!

 

 

So Blake was so excited to turn 6, mostly because now he needs two hands to show his age. This is a big deal to him. It was his turn for a birthday party this year, so he invited some friends over and they played video games and with the new tetherball Joel made for his birthday. He is OBSESSED with tetherball! Even after playing at school, he comes home and wants to play tetherball right away. I'm too scared to play with him (well, too pregnant!) and Julianna isn't into it much, but Joel will play with him when he can. He sure had fun playing with his friends at his party! (My friend took pictures for me because that day I couldn't find my camera!) Blake is such a fun, strong-willed, smart, energetic, crazy, funny kid. The best thing is seeing him become friends with Julianna now, more than ever before! They love playing together now, and it makes me so happy to see them get along.

 

 

Next post will be about our new baby! Before the end of this week, we should have a new addition to the family.

Halloween and pumpkin patch

 

 These are pictures from the pumpkin patch in town. Blake has a laffy taffy in his teeth! Sorry some of the pics are sideways.

 

 

It took Julianna a good 10 minutes to get up the courage to climb that ladder and go down, but she did it! And she liked it!

 

Blake went over and over.

 

3-week old baby cows!

 

Petting the donkey.

 

About to go trick or treating on our neighborhood. This year they went up to every door by themselves and said trick or treat. We stood on the sidewalk. The kids are growing up!

 

Had to put this one in...Blake won student of the quarter along with 5 other kids from his class! His award was specifically in reading. His teacher said he is reading 97 words a minute, able to decode new words, and reads with fluency. He also got an award for perfect attendance!

 

Ready for the trunk or treat at the church. Julianna is a Hello Kitty Fairy. We drew whiskers, and Lisa, her respite worker was over, and said we should put cornstarch on the eyeliner to make it set. We did this, and then put cornstarch on her entire face to make her white like Hello Kitty! It was cute.

 

Joel wanted to be a skater zombie, hence the green paint and fake teeth. He hasn't dressed up in years, and neither have I! He certainly got some funny looks at the trunk or treat! When he came downstairs, Julianna started to cry because he looked so different. She got over it in a few minutes, though. And Blake was really excited to be Spiderman.

 

The IEP of all IEPs

Well, the biggest battle I have had to fight for Julianna just ended today, and I could not be happier! Over the years it has not been easy to get Julianna what she needs, but I have never given up. Today I attended a meeting to decide whether Julianna will get a 1:1 aide in the classroom all day, something that is not easy to get, as it is the most costly placement for a special needs child, but I knew this was the only way Julianna could succeed in school, so I went for it.

I had been homeschooling her since January, and that was going okay, but once I got pregnant, and the more homeschooling went on, I just knew she needed to go back to school. I knew she would have more opportunities to grow socially and academically than being at home, plus we were starting to butt heads every day and it was a struggle. The only problem was, how do I put her back in when I was literally forced to pull her out? The school district dissolved the small RSP classes, so I knew she would either be placed in a moderate/severe SDC class, or a regular class with a 1:1 aide. Julianna made it clear she wanted to be in a regular class. So we held a meeting the Friday before school started, and I requested this placement. I found out that the district by law has 60 days to evaluate and collect data to determine whether she needed a 1:1, since it is an added service. So in the meantime she had to be placed in the moderate/severe class, which both she and I were not happy about. The only thing that made it okay...her amazing teacher! She was like an advocate during those 60 days, and I could talk to her about anything. She was totally on my side and wanted to help Julianna get the 1:1. When she finally received another aide for her very large SDC class, instead of keeping that aide in her classroom, she used her to send with Julianna to the regular class. What a sacrifice on her part! So since the 3rd week of school, she's had the placement I wanted all along. And when the district finally came around to evaluate, they could clearly see this placement was working.

But just in case, I got letters and reports from her neurologist, ABA therapist, and anyone I could think of! I asked my IRC case worker to be there, I called supervisors at IRC to be ready to step in if we didn't get it, I did everything I could to make sure this 1:1 would happen. And in the end, I really didn't have to fight that hard at all. When we got to the meeting today, the district rep. starting saying how Julianna did need a 1:1 for completing many tasks. I already knew all the teachers were in agreement with me, it was the district people I was worried about. So amazingly, I got to sit around a table where I actually agreed with everything they were saying! Everyone agreed that Julianna needed the 1:1 in the classroom! So now it's officially in her IEP and I can move on, knowing that she has the right help in school and at home. It's taken me almost 9 years to get to this point, but things will only get better from here. Even after a month in this placement, Julianna comes home from school happy, not anxious or stressed anymore. It's amazing! So for now, I am done fighting battles for Julianna, but I know I'll be ready if another one comes along! We feel so blessed and happy.