Reading Adventures

The boys' school had a book fair about a month ago.  I always give the boys money to buy a book or two.  Logan picked out a book called "Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes."   That boy LOVES this book.
We have read it every night since he picked it out--he and Alex have it memorized now.

"I love my white shoes"
"I love my white shoes"
"I love my white shoes"

The boys sing the song and read the story and get excited because, well, I have to admit that it IS a really catchy little story.

We are also reading Treasure Island as a family.  Jacob has it on his Kindle and he has been reading a chapter each night to the boys.  What little boy doesn't enjoy a good pirate story?

Alex and Logan have started reading.  It is the coolest thing to sit and listen to your child read to you.  Logan is a very good reader and is getting faster.  Reading is a little harder for Alex.  He is really trying though and we are so very proud of him.

We love reading.  The boys have such a huge library that we always have a great story to read.  There are several books the boys have that I will keep even when all three of my children are too big for them. They are just great stories.  We will hear the boys pretending to be the characters in the stories.  It has really helped them develop wonderful imaginations (which I just love).

Here's to reading with your kids!!

A World of Chaos!

2012 has proven to be a year full of craziness and I will be the first to admit that I'm not a fan.  Honestly, it seemed like the craziness really started to rear it's ugly head last summer when my car died.   Things have just been flying ahead in full force since then. Since Christmas Alex has had surgery and lost his first two teeth, Logan got glasses, Kaitlyn is currently not feeling well and of course I can't get her in to see her pediatrician.  We take Kailtyn to have an ultrasound done tomorrow afternoon--they want to check her kidneys and make sure everything is working the way it should and there are no problems. I go see a surgeon this Friday and talk about the odds of possibly waiting until Kaitlyn is bigger to have surgery.  I have been told by a number of people that I won't be able to lift or hold Kaitlyn for 6 weeks after the surgery--the mom in me is not happy about that. In other news--Alex is now officially a lefty, it seems.  Since he got his cast off he is still writing with his left hand.  I asked if it hurt to write with his right hand and he said, "No, it just feels weird.  I like using my left hand."  The toilet handle is broken so we have the top off the toilet and are flushing it from the inside--until we can get it fixed.  Who has the time for that? LOL Kaitlyn is rolling all over the place.  She gets mad when she rolls over onto her tummy.  She is playing with a few of her baby toys now and growing like crazy. She has become very vocal--it's funny how they seem to change every day at this age! I should be doing laundry, cleaning, or doing something productive right now, but felt the need to blog--if only for a minute or two--while Kaitlyn isn't crying.

Here are a few pictures of some of the big changes going on in the Astley house (for anyone who still reads this blog).

Alex missing his two front bottom teeth.  He lost the first one Tuesday morning and the second one this morning.

Kaitlyn--she was swinging in her swing and cooing.  This was taken yesterday.

Logan with his new glasses--he is still getting used to them, but looks SO cute!

One Tough Boy!

Extremely early on Monday morning--almost time to head to the hospital.

At the hospital--waiting . . . he made fun of the "tired little tiger" pajamas they made him wear.

Playing with daddy in the play area beside the holding room.

Getting ready to go back to the O.R. Alex told me I looked like a bee in this lovely yellow outfit the hospital made me wear.  Once they started giving him the sleeping gas he pointed to me, laughed, and said, "Mommy, you look like a big banana!"

Right after surgery--little boy in a big bed!

A few hours after surgery.  He was miserable, but for those of you who know Alex you know he never once complained!

Alex is upset that he can't use either of his arms and has to ask for help for everything, even scratching his nose, but he's being a real trooper in all of this.  His medicine has been making him sick because we can't get him to eat much, but he still isn't complaining. He has been watching movies and a lot of Phineas & Ferb. It has been quite an adjustment in the Astley house with an 8 week old, a boy who can't do anything for himself, and an emotional 5-year-old who is worried about his brother and COMPLETELY off schedule and tired. Jacob and I are both exhausted but we have had a lot of help from family and friends.  A couple of my friends have brought us food, people have brought Alex ice cream, he has received cards and gifts, and people have helped watch Kaitlyn and Logan and offered to pick up Logan from school.
Alex has some amazing people in his life and we are so thankful for each and every one of you.  He still has a long way to go but he's quite the little trooper!  He has made jokes about eating with his feet and, honestly, I can see him doing that.  Ha Ha.

I'll keep every one posted!

A Super Hero Turns Seven

Baby Alex

Handsome first grade boy!

On December 26th, 2004 Jacob and I were at his parents' house for Christmas.  We exchanged gifts with his family, ate a lot of junk food, and watched Dodgeball.  The next morning we got up ridiculously early and went to the hospital to induce labor.  It was our first child and we didn't really know what to expect.  Sure we had gone to the birthing classes and all that fun stuff,  but even still, we were embarking on a whole new world.

After inducing labor the doctor discovered that Alex's head was shoved all the way back and stuck under my pelvis.  He told us what was going on and said, "I would recommend doing a C-Section otherwise there is a good chance his neck will be broken in the birthing process.  Would you be okay with doing a C-Section?" This question struck me as funny--if my child's neck could be broken then why wouldn't I be okay with a C-Section?

So, we went into the OR and had a C-Section.  Alex was born at 10:16 am on December 27, 2004.  He was perfect and very observant. He would just stare at Jacob as if he was sizing him up. One night while we were still in the hospital we noticed that Alex had stopped breathing and was turning blue.  Jacob ran down the hall and loudly announced to the nurses that our baby wasn't breathing and was blue.  Three nurses rushed in, said nothing, grabbed Alex and hurried him out of the room.  The next few minutes seemed to take forever.  We didn't know what was going on or if Alex was okay.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, a nurse brought Alex back to us.  She told us that they had to hook him up to a machine and clean out his airway--she then showed Jacob how to do it if this issue ever came up again.  We ended up staying at the hospital 4 days because of all of Alex's issues--many of these issues he still struggles with today.  His life is filled with occupational therapy, speech therapy, and doctors appointments. He rarely complains and is always ready to try his best no matter what the situation may be.  He has taught us so much about persistence and staying positive.

I can't imagine a world without this amazing little boy in it.

One Month Old

I should have posted this yesterday--now I'm a day behind.  Better late than never, right? Yesterday marked one month since Kaitlyn came into our lives. I can't believe it has already been a month since we went to the hospital to bring her into the world.

She is doing a lot--she smiles quite a bit (especially at her brothers).  She has been rolling from her tummy to her back for a couple of weeks now and this week she rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time. Alex and Logan don't understand why Kaitlyn doesn't play with her toys and it really bothers Logan that Kaitlyn can't eat food.  Ha. We keep telling them that she will be doing all of these things before we know it.
She is a sweet baby who likes to cuddle and is very vocal when she is unhappy.  LOL  We look forward to watching her grow and experiencing all these firsts with her!

Dropping Like Flies

Saturday night Jacob and I were watching a movie when we heard Alex jump out of his bed and hurry to the bathroom.  A second later we heard him vomiting.
And so began the beginning of pukefest 2011 in our house.

Alex had a fever and couldn't keep anything down--Jacob and I began using Lysol, hand sanitizer, and scrubbing with soap like crazy.  My hands are dry, red, raw, an cracked from constantly washing them and trying to keep the germs at bay. Alex was sick all day Sunday and Monday. We tried to keep Logan away from him (which, if you know my two boys, you know that is a hard thing to do). Yesterday Logan came to me and said his tummy hurt.  "Oh, no!" I thought.  He laid down for about 5 minutes then said he felt fine and was hungry.  He had Spaghettios for lunch and I suggested he try some crackers just in case.  A little while later he told me again that his tummy hurt so I made him lay down in his bed--where he fell asleep.  He slept for about an hour and then I heard him crying. I went in his room and the smell hit me in the face the instant I stepped in--then, I saw just how bad it was . . . or so I thought.  It was all over Logan's face, his clothes, his bed, and the floor. The funny thing about being a mom, at least for me, is that I can be totally grossed out when some one vomits, but when its my kids I just want to clean them up and make them feel better.  Yes, it grosses me out but not to the point that I can't help my kids and tell them its okay while I'm cleaning them up (and everything around them). I pulled all of Logan's bedding and stuffed animals off his bed and washed them.  I gave Logan a bath and sprayed down his mattress and cleaned the floor.  I went in to put clean bedding on his bed and that is when I saw it. There was vomit on the wall and vomit on the underside of Alex's bed (Logan sleeps on the bottom bunk).  I stood there for a minute and looked at it in hopes that maybe, just maybe it was my imagination.  Nope. Feeling just a tad overwhelmed I had a quick, "This is so disgusting and I'm sick of it" cry and then cleaned it up and put Logan back in his bed. I set a trash can beside his bed and told him to use it if he didn't think he could make it to the bathroom.

Keeping Logan away from Kaitlyn has been a new challenge as well. He adores her and wants to check on her, kiss her, touch her and I won't even let him 5 feet from her.  It hurts his feelings but he says he understands.

Alex is feeling better today and now Jacob is sick.  *sigh*  I can honestly say I'm ready for this week to be over.

Update on Astley Kids!

Logan wearing the crown he made at school today.  He was very proud of it.

My big 1st grade boy.  He has come home from school every day for the past week with at least 2 spots (they get a spot for good behavior).  Today he also brought home a Happy Note from music class for good behavior.  I told him we were proud of him and he said, "Why?  Its not that hard to be nice."  Ha.

Kaitlyn--she will be a month old next week.  I can't believe it.  I know it flies by--I can't believe Alex is going to be 7 in a matter of days.

It has been interesting adjusting to having three children instead of two.  Everyone told me that its harder to go from one child to two than to go from two to three.  When we went from one child to two Alex was 15 months old so we had two babies at once. In that sense adding Kaitlyn to the mix is easier in that Alex and Logan are older and love to help with her.  They are more independent and don't need constant attention like Kaitlyn does. In other ways it is harder because we have homework, reading, therapies and a number of other things we have to do every day/week and adding Kaitlyn to the mix makes all of that a little more challenging.  I am happy to announce that the boys were on time for school every day this week (it was my first week to do it all with no help) and we were only 5 minutes late to speech this morning before school.

We discovered this afternoon that Logan had gone to school with a Jacob sock in his coat.  He apparently wore the sock in his coat all day and didn't realize it--although he said he did fell something weird in his coat today.

I am looking forward to Christmas break--two weeks without having to rush around every day or work on homework. Every December I make sugar cookies with my boys for Santa and we watch Christmas movies together.  I am looking forward to doing these things with them this year as well. Things are busier than usual, but I still plan to make time to do all these things with the boys--one day they'll be too big and won't be interested in doing them with me so I plan to enjoy it while I can!