Cuteness & IEP Testing

Max is really into hats lately. Taking them on and off, not actually wearing them.

We did Max's IEP {individualized education plan} testing last week. He was pretty cooperative and the ladies helping us were great. He qualified for all services, no surprise there. The big surprise was that as he turns 3 next month, he immediately transitions into the school system for preschool. They don't wait til fall. So we are now on a mission to find a school for him to go to! And it's not as easy as one thinks. Our neighborhood school where he will eventually go, doesn't have a preschool option. So the district recommended a school. But it's not in a great neighborhood {to put it politely} and with Max being a runner, we're not sure it's the best choice. We still haven't had a chance to go look at it. But still - we're looking at other options. Not every school can give him the services he needs {speech therapy, etc}. Some of our favorites based on other parents' recommendations are private, which can be spendy, and some are public but not in our district... ugh. Guess we should have started thinking about this a little sooner.

We did finally get his social security number squared away, after 5 trips to the social security office, $15 in parking fees, & $208 for an amended adoption decree. So at least his name matches his SS# now and we can actually register for school once we pick one :) And now we can finally get the adoption tax credit as well. It's been quite a headache. Things they don't tell you to keep straight when you adopt ;) We're still fixing names on all his medical records...

 And a random shot of Piper as the sun set last night.

Story Telling

She's got expressions of her own...

She was telling me about something that happened at school. I don't even remember what it was.

Getting Over the Flu

So I saw this cute springy wreath on Pinterest last week and since my Valentine wreath needs to come down soon, I figured this would be a great replacement (we can't decorate the inside of the house due to our lovable Tornado, so I've settled for the front door). After visiting two fabric/craft stores in the area for the furry grass yarn stuff, I guess I'll be seeing these on my neighbors' doors, not mine since the lime green is the only color that seems to be sold out everywhere. Bummer.

 So I settled on painting some wooden springy flowers, and then decided to add some plastic easter grass. Not quite the same, eh. Oh well. Then I got the flu (the last one in the fam to finally get it). Then it snowed. So the wreath is still waiting to be hung on the front door. Or I might just back to the craft store next week, now that I see them side by side...

In the meantime, some funny faces that Max makes while he watches TV in his high chair....

Sickies

Max threw up half the night last Saturday. Now it seems to be Piper's turn. She started throwing up today about 12:20, roughly 10 minutes after she got home from school. She said, "Mom, I don't think I can go to school tomorrow." I agreed and added, "or Monday." She was thrilled, obviously forgetting it's a holiday weekend! We had been talking about calling a couple friends for a playdate. After she started puking she said, "I have a good idea. My friends can still come over to play and I'll tell them just to not touch me."! Um, I don't think so.
So she puked every 10-15 minutes for the next 8 hours, then every 30-60 minutes for the next 3 hours. She is finally asleep at midnight and hasn't thrown up in about 45 minutes - woohoo! Poor kid. She usually likes to be sick because she then "gets all the attention." Today though, she kept telling me she was miserable.

Several times tonight she told me, "Mom, thanks for taking such good care of me." Awww. Sometimes she can be sweet instead of sassy :)

*update - Steve is out of town on business - he's been texting me all day telling me he is sitting in his conference trying not to throw up, too ;)

Playin' Around

In my attempt to get more of me on the ol' blog this year... I got out the tripod and remote this week. Since I knew Max wouldn't 'pose' with me for the camera, I decided to just play on the floor with him. Too bad I didn't check to make sure my head wouldn't get cut off - ha! But I'll definitely try this more often.

Love how he was driving his cars over my shoulder!

And then Piper came home from school and had to get in on it too - Zhu Zhu pet races in the kitchen.

Max's Brothers - A Valentine's Day Post

Something extraordinary happened this weekend. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

We met Max's brothers.

If you follow this blog, you most likely know that we adopted Max. When he was five weeks old, we flew to Texas to bring him home. While talking with his amazing birthmom, Melody, we learned that he had brothers. At that time she wasn't even sure she was going to tell them about Max. We didn't really expect to ever meet them, but we did! These two cute boys pictured above with Max and Piper, are Luke and Jacob, Max's biological brothers. They were adopted by a wonderful family in Texas, AND just happened to be in Utah skiing this weekend. They were staying 20 minutes from our house. How crazy is that?! So when we were given the chance to meet up with them for a quick ice cream cone, I jumped at the chance (and was sooo glad Max was over his puking from the night before and feeling good enough to go).

It was really incredible. First, all the kids adored each other. It was so amazing to watch these kiddos interact. So much so that I wasn't paying attention to my camera settings and most of my pictures are blurry! (Should have used auto mode!) Second, Todd & Judy (their parents) were so nice, and easy to talk to, and just as eager as I was to get the brothers together. I loved every minute of our visit. Unfortunately, Steve had a church meeting and missed it.

You would have thought these two had known each other for years!

I just kept thinking how incredibly wonderful and unique this opportunity was and as these boys grow up, they'll know who their siblings are (and yes, Piper is pretty sure that they're her brothers too!) even if we don't ever live close enough to get together for Christmas and birthdays. Of course, then I learned that they come every few years and this won't be a last reunion! I got teary eyed on the way home.

Hello same eyes, same nose, same hair.

So amazing how adoption brings so many people together.
Valentine's love all around.

More Aquarium

Piper loves this place. You can see everything in under 30 minutes in my opinion, but she would spend all day there if I would let her. I guess you can't really go wrong when you can get a year pass for $10 (thanks to Groupon).

Attempting to get me in a picture :)

It was feeding time...

Shark teeth.

The river otters were really playful.

Playdate way back when

Totally behind in posting these...  from a playdate a few weeks ago :)

Max, Gage & Justin {every boy needs a pink vacuum, eh?}

Mia, Ryker, Isaiah, and Lilly, I think (oh I can't remember everyone's names now)

 Kaelyn, Max's future wife?!... she's a little shy :)

Bubbles

Piper was thrilled that I wanted to take some bubble pictures yesterday for my 365 photo blog.

We made a pretty big mess on the coffee table trying to get a picture of our reflection!

Cookies and Milk & Super Bowl Tears

He doesn't love sweets (must have got those genes from his birthparents - ha). But Oreos, oh my. That is a whole different story.

On a side note, Piper cried herself to sleep tonight because the Patriots lost the Super Bowl. Yeah - we live in Utah. And she's 6. I told her earlier that I was rooting for the Patriots and Steve was going to root for the Giants. No real reason why. So she sided with me on cheering during the game. When I told her 'we' just lost, she lost it. Seriously upset. So as they were passing around the trophy on TV, I suggested we start cheering for the Giants. Yay - we won! She sobbed, "You can't just change teams!" and stormed off to the bedroom crying, and fell asleep.
Whose kid is this?!?!

Not Just Another Cup

So I read a comment on facebook from a fellow Ds mom telling someone about this 'controlled flow' cup, the Reflo Smart Cup, to help transition from a sippy to a regular drinking cup. So I ordered one.

And IT.IS.AWESOME! Max loves it. So I had to share.

This is a video of the first time he used it this week:

It doesn't prevent spills, so it's not something we'll use if he's not in his highchair, but it is something Piper should use since Max often grabs her cup if she's not sitting at the table. It does prevent the whole glass from spilling out all at once if tipped over.

AND, if you're local to Salt Lake, the Harmons Brickyard location sells the exact same cups for 99 cents without the insert. AND you can just buy the inserts separate as replacements on the Reflo website. So cool. (It was about $10 with shipping and I got it within 48 hrs after ordering.)

And I'm really hoping this helps with his mouth muscles for speech therapy.

I know TalkTools has something similar for $18 with shipping, but this is more big boy cup-like.