DeCrows Nest

A fresh start in Townsends room

Tim and I decided it was high time for Townsend's baby blue and green striped nursery to get a face-lift! What six year old little boy still wants that in his room? So we got to work scraping down the stripes and applying FOUR (yes 4 ugh) coats of primer. To be honest, there are still some ghosts of the stripes lurking beneath the surface, but we were not about to re-texture all the walls!

just about the time we were finished with the priming we decided the carpet needed to go too...

and so now Townsend is sleeping in the play room, and I have a fresh slate and some BIG ideas :) Stay tuned!

 

Here are a few pictures of little man starting back to school last week! (since when does school start so early?) He has a new teacher this year, but his therapists, and teachers assistants are the same so he was happy to see some familiar faces.

We are still working with him on the PECS and he is a rock start at it! He has been picking it right up, and it makes all the difference to have some line of communication open with him.  He is doing great.

He has been growing like a weed, I feel like he is a foot taller this year, and isn't he just so handsome :)

Province will be starting school in a couple of weeks as well. I am so excited, she will be going to the cutest little preschool that my wonderful friend and her mom own. I know she will love it!

Hooray for happy kids in school!

Last Day of School

Townsends class had a little end of the year party, the girls and I went to school with him and enjoyed talking to his teachers and playing with him in his classroom.

We brought thank you gifts for the teachers...

(yes, all six of them! The card said thank you... "you rock" and came with an itunes gift card :) The digi supplies came from this cute kit!)

And we brought a treat to share...

(thank you Ashley for introducing me to the most delicious treat in the world, double chocolate coconut dipped almonds in the bulk bins at sprouts. They are little bites of heaven. YUM.)

And we said goodbye to his teacher (at least for two weeks till summer sessions starts). She is an amazing woman, she loves these kids, and we feel so blessed to be in her class!

(okay, this was taken at Applebees last week, but I didn't get one at the party, you get the idea)

Typical Tuesday

   

   

The short bus. I love driving up to Townsends school and seeing all the cheerful yellow buses lined up in a perfect row. It makes me happy. I love to watch all the sweet little kids getting walked to and from hand in hand. So sweet.

Townsend is very particular. He only eats things in the white-cream-yellow palette. This includes: apples (inside), bananas, popcorn, rice, mashed potatoes, nilla wafers, and chips. Thats pretty much it. He loves chips, but only if they are the right shape. The folded or excessively bumpy chips are discarded to the right.

Province will and does eat anything (luckily, she is more then happy to eat out of the rejected chip pile). Here she is going to town on my* Jamba Juice. How much do I love those little chubby toddler fingers?

It is getting to hot outside for my winter flowers, I figured it was better to clip them and enjoy them inside for a few days before the sun burned them to a crisp!

Heard around the house

"I'm pretty?"
(yes Province, you are beautiful, but I don't think its because of the 7 pairs of princess underwear you have around your neck)

"Tank you mommy"
(self explanatory. after over 3 years of parenting, it really is nice to hear a thank you. I smile from ear to ear... oh the little joys!)

"I think maybe her butt is on the wrong side?"
(Tim's confusion conclusion of why Merrill needs a bath at least once a day because of a diaper explosion. That little girl can go through some onsies.)

*Note to self: buy Province her own jamba next time.

Pop Quiz

Please fill in the answer bubble using a #2 pencil

This picture represents:
O  A. A little boy who can't resist warm bubbly bath water.
O  B. Preoccupied parents.
O  C. An experiment to discover just how much liquid a huggie supreme
        diaper really holds.
O  D. All of the above.

Whats so funny?

So last night about 2:30 I gotten woken up by one of my kids... that happens a lot. After laying in bed a minute to asses the situation (aka trying to figure out the quickest way to get back to sleep) I realized it was

Townsend was in is room totally cracking up. He was laughing so hard he woke both Tim and I up. Something in there must have been really funny (Mike Wasosky?). He cackled for at least 20 minutes before I fell back asleep, who knows how long he was up. It continued on into the day as well, he has been busting out in random laughter all day. He had all four of us in tears this morning at therapy because we were laughing so hard. Wish I knew what was going on in that cute little head of his!

Sing with me... "we love to laugh, long and loud and clear, we love to laugh..."
Anyone? anyone? Mary Poppins...

I love it!

Words can not express joy I felt as I walked into the kitchen this morning and found this-
My little monkey sitting at the bar with a huge smile on his face playing with a car. We work really hard to get him to play with toys "functionally", he uses all toys as objects to look at and explore textures etc- he never uses them for typical play. In his therapy we try to help him use toys, this week we in one of his therapy sessions we had a lot of fun playing with a toy truck. We pushed it back and forth, and with some help, he started to do it himself... so I continued to play cars with him the last couple days. To make a long story short, we have had fun playing cars together, but always after my prompt (I remind/ show him what we do with cars). I was so excited when I walked in this morning and found him doing it by himself! He was pushing it all over the counter and having a great time. Awesome. Of course I had to run get my camera ;)

It's all about the small successes right? Townsend playing with a toy truck... I love it!

Townsends First Day of Pre-school!

A monument day at the DeCrow household, we sent our first child off to preschool! I think everyone (including Townsend) made it through with no tears! Tim had the day off work so we all went together to drop him off. He knew something was up, and was very reluctant to go with his Teacher/Aid, but they got him to the playground and I think he was fine after that. The three remaining DeCrows went and ran errands, drove around, and went to the park, just killing time until we could go pick him back up. Finally after two and half long hours, we went back, and Tim went in to get him. They said he did "pretty well considering it was his first day", whatever that means, LOL! All seemed well, so I guess thats that. He came home and crashed for a rock star nap, he was worn out!
The first day of school is under our belt, now I just need to get ready for the bus!

I braved the mall...

by myself with two kids. That might not sound like much to you, but I make it a point not to go out with the two kids by myself (excepting the quick trip to the grocery store). But to the mall we went, and we stayed for over two hours!
Notes to self for next time...
- Auntie Annes Pretzels (the usual) are much better than Wetzels Pretzels (our snack today)
- Brining the camera to the play-land is pointless when I have to keep an eye on both kids (needless to say, no pictures)
- There is a TV playing cartoons in gymboree... we stayed there a little longer... and thats the only place I ended up spending money...hmmmm...
- Don't get offended when someone calls me "crazy" for having two kids in a stroller and one on the way :)
- I can not be trusted in the puppy store, my mom almost ended up with a dog (I already have two, and they are to cute to leave there, but I restrained myself)
- Chippers although a very small cookie, when given to two kids can make a HUGE mess (Chippers from Paradise Bakery... my all time favorite cookie, I could make a whole post about how much I love chippers... YUM)
- And most important, it is possible to go out with my kids by myself... who knew? They were SO good, we had a great time and I think we will do it again!

-on a seperate note-
Townsend had a great session with his therapist this morning, and he did super well on monday too. It is great to see him making progress. It is small progress but when I think where we started six months ago, it is progress. He is on occasion stacking blocks (don't ask me why, but they are all obsessed with wanting him to stack blocks, LOL). He is doing really well with following the "clean up" request. Starting to figure out shape puzzles, with a little hand over hand help. He is doing awesome at verbal requests (no words, but we do get lots of noises). And most recently he has been so good at initiating me when he needs help. He will come grab my hand and pull me to whatever he needs. It is so cute (at times annoying, but cute), half the day I am being pulled to the pantry (hungry), or the fridge (thirsty), or to a tote (wants a toy), or to the TV (on), or to the door (outside)... it goes on and on. But at least he is starting to communicate with me, it is one step closer to knowing what he wants...
and that is progress.

A few ramblings

Townsend and I went for his evaluation to start the pre-k programs yesterday. Since he already has a diagnoses, we didn't have to do most of the testing while there, but they did want to check his hearing and vision (perfect on both counts!). Such wonderful and patient people working, trying to test his vision was hilarious, but they got it done. They want to start him in the programs in a month. It is overwhelming for me. The idea of sending my little sweet two and half year old to a "public school" just doesn't seem right. The idea of putting him on a little bus to get there really doesn't seem right. I don't feel like I am an overprotective - worry sort of mom, but the idea makes me uneasy. I am sure this is what all moms experience taking there kids to school for the first time. I am sure it will be wonderful and I am sure he will love it. I am going to go observe the classroom in a couple of weeks and I think that will make me feel better. I just need to see that none of the kids are mean. He is so sweet and I don't want him to pick up bad habits (the waiting area yesterday with all the kids interacting was a little scary). I am also just going to drive him, someday I might get used to the bus idea, but I think baby steps are good.

I miss my dad. I have been emotional about it the last few days. I keep finding myself fighting back tears- At night when my thoughts wander, when I drive by a Weinersnitchzel, yesterday over my cherry pie. Tim bought me a little cherry pie as a treat, (he must think I need fattening up, or maybe cheering up, LOL) and I sat down at my computer to enjoy it with a big glass of milk. I looked down and it just reminded me of my dad. That was one of his favorite treats (he liked all kinds of treats, but this had to be in his top 3!). Mom didn't like them so he would always buy one for me and him. I think I mostly just like them in the first place cause he did. Anyway, just wondering how long it takes to stop wanting to cry. I just miss him so much, he was a very important piece of glue in my life.

On a much happier note, I have been having so much fun with digital scrapping. My sister is opening a digital store soon and I am helping make products! It is so fun, I will have to share a few previews here pretty soon! In the mean time here is my most recent page- Townsend as Dash last Halloween!

No credits... I made it all, how fun!