Silly Kids

 So, these are just some funny moments I captured in the past week.  The above picture of Caiti is actually one of her least destructive, dangerous moments.  She is definitely in a phase.  We were wondering why she climbed into the laundry basket...until she stood up holding a yo-yo.  I always wonder why she puts things in the places she does.  She's like an elephant, cause she never forgets where they are.

 Aunt Michelle let Jason borrow her blush brush.  Jason LOVED it.  I'm sure it felt super good.  :)

And of course I had to capture this moment because it always makes me laugh how the best moment in the movie, for each of my kids, is the credits.  They all stop whatever they are doing and are completely enthralled by the words traveling down the screen. 

Someone Wants to Be a Big Boy

 This picture makes me smile.  I found Jason sitting by the door in Caiti's car seat while we were waiting for the bus to come.  He just can't wait until he can be like his big brother and sister and go on the bus and go to school.  In fact, on more than one occasion he has scurried past me while I was dragging the other two to the bus.  He will then climb on, go to the back of the bus and climb on the seat and sit there just waiting for a ride.  :)  Of course, our bus driver told me that it is a liability issue to have younger siblings on the bus, so I have to be careful to distract Jason before the bus comes so he won't try to go to school again.

Speaking of school, this last week was Jason's assesment with the SEEC (special education early childhood) program for the school district.  I don't know if I had mentioned previously in the blog, but Jason recently received an official diagnosis of autism.  Anyway, the good news is that the school district thinks that he definitely will qualify for their preschool program, but they are thinking he will be placed in a higher-functioning preschool classroom than Garrett and Caiti were.  I know that Jason will LOVE school and feel like such a grown up.

My Photographer

So, I know this is a hideous picture of me, and normally, I would delete it and act like I don't have a double chin and I do my hair every day and freshen up my makeup...but this was the first picture Garrett took.  So I have to think it's cute for that reason.  :)

The Ipad and Autism :)

Our family was so very fortunate in that we were donated an ipad from a wonderful local charity.  Since we received it, our lives have changed for the better.  We are able to utilize the ipad in many wonderful ways.   I just wanted to go ahead and share some of the ways our family benefits from the ipad:

1.  The ipad is a great tool for potty training.  After buying some more expensive apps, I found this free app from Huggies Pull-Ups.  It is the one Caiti smiles at when she is sitting on the potty. 

 When she goes in the potty, she gets a star.  See how good she is doing?  :)  Anyway, each row of stars unlocks a fun, but simple game.  So it is very visual and rewarding.

 Garrett was pretty much set as far as potty training goes, but then he regressed and started having accidents at home and at school after Kevin left on deployment.  I found this app called "I Earned That."  I have been using it as incentive to get him to stay dry at school.  Whenever he stays dry he gets to put a puzzle piece in which is part of the picture of the reward that he gets.

 He earned McDonalds last week for staying dry at school 6 days in a row.  So he got to go with mommy on a date.  He thought that was absolutely fun and wonderful.  Now we are working at staying dry at home for swimming.  That one's a little harder for him, but he loves to see the picture of the swimming pool coming together when he stays dry.

 2.  The Ipad is a great tool for their therapists as well as learning on their own:

Since getting the ipad, Jason's therapists keep commenting on how many more words he knows, i.e., his colors, animals, etc.  I can't really take credit for that.  He finds the ipad any time it's out, and starts playing his little educational games.  He can scroll through all the folders and games better than anyone at our house.  He's quite the expert. 

Garrett and Caiti's tutors use the ipad as an added help, and also as a reinforcer.  They are able to make the learning time funner because both kids are visual learners, and they feel like they are playing games when they are learning.  Here are some of the categories we are working on that we found ipad apps for:

 Communication

 Social apps and Schedules

 Recognizing Emotions 

 Vocabulary

 Pre-reading

3.  The ipad helps when we are in public places.  Just this morning Garrett's ABA tutor and I put together a quick social story about how to act when we are at church.  It was very helpful, because we could just point at the picture, and he would know what was expected of him. 

He did very well.  We were so proud of him.  It helped to have fun, but quiet games that he could play instead of stimming or blurting loud random things out during the service.  :)
Another great thing about the ipad is that any movies that you have saved on itunes transfer over to the ipad.  We have used it when we go to the doctor, etc.  They can just touch the picture of the movie they want to play.  It is nice because then they are also working on making a choice.

Something very helpful, and free that you can use on the ipad is called Going Places.  It shows a little social story of a child in the different social settings and the appropriate way to act and kind of what to expect.  I have used this when I took my kids to the doctor and also when I took Garrett to the Barber.  (http://www.modelmekids.com/)

4.  The ipad is a great source of entertainment for my cute kids.   

 It is always nice to see my kids enjoying doing "normal kid" things like playing video games.  Garrett really likes a Spider Man game, and he's actually better at it than me.  Not that that is hard.

 Caiti's favorite game is called Rosita Counts.  Rosita jumpropes in the game, and she wants you to jump too.  It is so cute because Caiti will prop the ipad on her bed and jump along with Rosita.  I didn't realize she understood the concept of the game until I walked in on her jumping along.  :)

Of course Jason thinks the ipad is his.  He's always trying to steal it away from whoever has it.  I think that he purposely brings me his cup so that I will get up to get him a drink and he can snatch that ipad away. 

5.  My kids are able to connect with their daddy while he is gone on deployment.

This was one of the most important parts of the ipad for me.  I was really worried about how to explain to my kids where daddy was after he left in February for deployment.  Luckily, I found an app that allowed me to do a picture explanation.  As most people know, people with autism struggle with communication, and do better with visuals.  This deployment has gone so much better for Garrett because he has the pictures to go with the words.  He knows daddy is on the ship in the ocean, but he will be back in September. 

I love putting my kids to bed because I can use the ipad to play youtube videos of their daddy reading them a wonderful children's book about deployment, called "Over There."  It is so sweet to watch them watch their daddy on the ipad.  They all go to bed so much better now that they have that routine of watching their daddy read them a bedtime story.  

So, there are just some of the reasons I love the ipad.  It is such a help for my family.  We won't even start on the reasons I love it for myself.  ;)

Reflections. :)

Taking all three kids to the doctor

Today we had a doctor's appointment for all three kids with the developmental pediatrician.  That is always interesting.  Luckily, Michelle was able to go with me and help me out.  I know it always looks kinda weird to have a 5-year old in the double stroller, but Caiti and Jason do a lot better that way, and then the person not pushing the stroller can grab Garrett's hand.
Caiti used to throw major tantrums the second we stepped in to any medical facility until the second we left, but this time her tantrum only lasted until we got to the actual examining room.  They had fun toys, like a set of three little duckies.  How could she stay mad with new friends to discover, right?
Jason, of course, was super good the whole time.
Garrett was a monkey and climbed all over the examining table and decided to sit in the double stroller, which subsequently tipped over onto the doctor.  Not cool.  Pretty embarrassing.
But hey, we survived.  We got all the kids taken care of at once.  We got some new prescriptions for Garrett and Jason, and also got the EFMP forms filled out so that we can enroll Jason into the Exceptional Family Member Program and re-enroll Garrett and Caiti.  So it was a good trip overall, even if it was crazy and had me sweating with anxiety.  :)

Happy Birthday! We Miss You.

Helping the Kids Deal with Deployment

Before Kevin left for deployment, we decided to try and think of ways to make it easier this time for the kids.  Especially Garrett.  One thing we did was go to Hallmark and get their recordable books.  Kevin was such a cute daddy recording My Little Princess for Caiti, All the Ways I Love You for Jason and a Curious George book called Curious You On Your Way for Garrett.  They were kind of pricey, at $30 each, but they are worth it.  I have my kids listen to their books every night when I put them to bed.  It is so sweet because Jason smiles and shuts his eyes when he hears daddy's voice, Caiti gets all possessive and makes everyone leave her room, and Garrett actually sleeps with his book every night.

The other thing we did was make a daddy movie for the kids.  We filmed a little bit of him with each of the kids as well as him reading them a couple of the books Fleet and Family Services gave us to help the kids understand deployment.  I admit, I enjoy watching those too when I'm missing my Kevin.

Oh, and of course, I even have his CDs in the car and sometimes I listen to them...until I remember that my music is so much better.  J/K.

Singing in the Shower

Deployment...again.

Yesterday was our final day before Kevin left for deployment.  We spent a lot of time together as a family and just tried to get everything ready for him to leave. 
It was a good day until the evening when Garrett had a seizure.  It was very scary, but luckily we had diastat and were able to stop his seizing.  We all felt a lot better after Kevin gave him a blessing.  I was so happy that Kevin was able to do that for Garrett.  The priesthood is definitely a blessing.
Speaking of blessings, the military relations missionaries stopped by and gave both Kevin and I a blessing as well.  It was so neat and you could definitely feel the spirit in our home.  It helped me feel comfort about the upcoming deployment.
We had Michelle come stay overnight with us, and she slept in the room with Garrett so she could keep an eye on him.  That was a relief.  It was also good that she was there so that the kids didn't have to get up with us when we left in the morning.
Kevin and I got up at 3 a.m., and I drove him to the base where we said our final goodbyes.  :(  I pray that this deployment is a safe one and that the time flies by.  We will sure miss him, but we are so proud of him and thankful for his sacrifice for his family and this wonderful country.

Future Basketball Star

I couldn't find Jason anywhere, and I discovered him outside where he had discovered Garrett's basketball hoop.  It was so cute.

Caiti being like Daddy

 Excuse Caiti for only wearing undies...but hey, we all know that is even a miracle, right.  Anyway, Kevin let Caiti try on his "cover" or as we civilians know them as...Sailor Hats.

 Not to dis Kevin, cause I think he's dreamy, but Cait looks even cuter with the cover than him.

She thinks so too...there's a mirror in front of her which she is gazing at so lovingly.

Valentine's Weekend

Kevin and I had a great weekend.  We decided to have Michelle watch the kids overnight and get a hotel and spend some nice, quality, alone time together, especially since he leaves for deployment in a little over a week.  :(
We love priceline.  We bid $100 for a 4-star hotel, and we got it.  Yay!  We ended up staying at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego.  http://manchestergrand.hyatt.com
Before we went there, we decided to stop and have dinner at our traditional Valentine's restaurant here in Tierra Santa, the Ristorante Bellagio.  It was pretty fun because they had a live singer there seranading us during dinner.  

 You can't see it too well, but the guy seranading us is the man in the tie in the back, and the guy sitting next to him was playing a guitar.

 We ate a very yummy, but way too filling, salmon dinner.  Mmmmm....

The seranading was nice...but that guy was sooooo loud and boisterous.  He was singing "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera, and seriously, I was dying laughing.  It was like when I was little and someone would sing opera at church.  I couldn't stop.
Well, actually, eventually I stopped, and Kevin and I were able to take a fun drive downtown.  We didn't get out until after 10, so while we were driving to the hotel, we got to see all the single partiers out in their clubbing attire.  It's interesting how the girls are all wearing super high heels and mini dresses that are all fancy, and the guys were wearing jeans, tennis shoes and maybe a plaid shirt.  Seriously?  We also passed a side of town where all the older couples were out walking.
Our hotel was right on harbor drive, and we were on the 24th floor.  Our elevator had so many buttons.  :)  I was excited to see our view since we were right at the harbor and in the middle of downtown.  Here's some nighttime views out our window.

 This is the view we had of the harbor.  The ship is actually the Maritime Museum.

 This is a view of downtown from our window.

 Hmmm....and this is a view of our king-sized bed.  ;)  ...but on to the morning...  Here are some awesome views of downtown San Diego in the daytime that we took from our window.

So pretty.  I love living here.
We had a nice morning.  We ate at a breakfast buffet at the hotel.  They had everything from made-to-order omelets, bacon, sausage, muffins, waffles, french toast, fruit, mmmm...anything you can think of for breakfast.  Of course, it cost us $50 so they had better have a good selection.
Next, Kevin stepped beyond his comfort zone, and for my Valentine's present, we both went to the hotel spa and got pedicures.  He isn't going to like that I posted this picture, but I think it's cute.  :)

Pedicures are so relaxing!  My only complaint...where were the massage chairs?  Come on now!

Don't I have pretty red toes for Valentine's Day?  After the pedicures, it was time for checkout.  Goodbye lovely hotel.  Maybe we will see you another day.

Family Time at the Zoo

Kevin and I decided to get out of the house and do something fun with the kids.  Since we have a zoo pass, that seemed like a fun and free option.  The kids were in heaven going to one of their favorite places with one of their favorite people (their daddy). 
It's surprising how every other person in the entire city of San Diego had the same idea.  CLAUSTROPHOBIA!

Of course we went to the flamingos first, since that is definitely a favorite among our kids.  We even saw a gray flamingo on her nest. 

...and here is what happens when you try to take a self portrait after the zoo but forget to undo the zoom function after taking a pic of the gray flamingo...

We didn't feel like staying too long at the zoo since it was hot and crowded, so we made a point to see the kids' favorites and Kevin's favorites.  I didn't really care if we saw mine.  I get lots of opportunities. 

So, of course our next stop was the otters.  They are always so fun to watch when they swim and do flips in the water.  I think they were hot and tired though...like the rest of us...so we didn't get to see them swimming.  Kevin did show Caiti where the otters were resting though.

The next stop was Kevin's favorite display at the zoo, the hyenas.  They have both spotted and striped hyenas there.  I don't know if it was the weather or what, but the striped hyena was resting just like the otters did.

At least we got a pic of the double decker bus though...

Jason must have thought that since the otters and the hyena were resting, he should too.

Garrett did a good job walking throughout the zoo and not trying to run away this time, but he got tired.  Must have been in the air...so daddy ended up having to carry him.  I was pushing the double stroller with Caiti and Jason up all those fun zoo hills; so...we both got a great workout while we were there.

Still, it was really fun to be brave and take all of our kids on an outing.