8 things

Thanks Sheila!!

8 TV shows I love to watch (not in any particular order):

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Law & Order SVU
3. CSI
4. CSI:Miami
5. One Tree Hill
6. 90210
7. Privileged
8. Army Wives

8 Things that Happened to me Yesterday:

1. Woke up at 3:30am(thanks to Dylan), laid in bed for a 1/2 hour and decided to get up at 4am to exercise to my Tracy Anderson Method DVD (thanks Stacie!!!, my arms are killing me)

2. Paid bills, checked account balances, checked email

3. Blogged

4. Took Brianna to the Harvest Festival at preschool. Helped at the cookie decorating table. It was that or the cupcake walk....

5. Visited with a friend while going through kids clothes. My garage is getting cleared out!!!

6. Went to Babies R Us with my mom to get gifts for Coo's aka Carolyn (guess it's the other way around since her legal name isn't Coo) Baby shower on Saturday.

7. Talked with Kalen, while he played PS3

8. Went to bed early, knowing I had to get up early today to run.


8 Favorite Places to Eat:

1. Joe's Crab Shack
2. In-N-Out
3. Chevys
4. Olive Garden
5. Red Robin
6. The Elephant Bar
7. BJ's Brewery
8. Amici's

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Halloween

2. The Holidays (especially the day after Thanksgiving sales!!!)
3. A nurse (for one day a week for 8 hours)
4. Rain
5. Dylan's meds back to normal
6. Cooler Weather (I'm kinda sick of the warm weather)
7. The TWILIGHT Movie!!!!
8. scrapbooking with my friend Judy for 8 hours:) Haven't scrapbooked in over a year!!!

8 Things on my wish list:

1. a new refrigerator that's bigger than the one Kalen had in his apartment
2. grass in the backyard
3. peaceful relationships with friends and family
4. a nap
5. vacation to Italy
6. a therapy room for Dylan
7. a play room for Brianna
8. have the energy to run another marathon:)


8 People I Tag:1. Jennifer 2. Stacy J. 3. Michelle Johnson. 4. Christine 5. Nicole 6. Paloma 7. Kelsey 8. Katie

Our update

So here's some pics from September to October. The first pics are the most recent and then they work backwards. It's been another crazy month. We can't believe that it's been a year since a pipe at our house burst and we had to live at my parents. Hopefully the end of this year will go much smoother than last year. It will be nice to be able to be in our home for Christmas. Not that it wasn't at my parents, it just wasn't the same. We appreciate all they did to help us last year while our house was being put back together.

My friend Sheila came over yesterday, and Brianna had a blast playing with Justin. it had been awhile since they played together, but they played "nice":) Sheila, you and your family are welcomed anytime. thanks for all the chatting:)

Brianna and Justin loved being outside playing bubbles and in Brianna's playhouse. they were pretending they were washing dishes. If only she wanted to help inside:)

Brianna had a harvest festival at her preschool yesterday. She decided to stick like glue to me and of course when it was time to go, she had warmed up. She loved playing with the bubbles and decorating cookies. If you couldn't guess, she is going to be a pirate for Halloween.

Kalen and I have started doing traditions in our family this year, and for Halloween we decorated a "haunted cookie house". Brianna loved it. Dylan would have helped but has been having a really hard time the past few weeks. His seizure meds are out of whack and it's causing some issues for him. Brianna loved this activity. We are glad we decided to do it. It was lots of fun watching Brianna enjoy decorating the house. Later today we will be decorating cookies & carving our pumpkins. Dylan and Brianna will be sure to love that. Did you know that decorating cookies can be educational and therapeutic at the same time? Dylan will be able to get lots of sensory input and work on his fine motor skills at the same time, but of course with a lot of help. I know that kids will love it!

She loved the frosting!!!! It was too sugary for mine and Kalen's liking.

Our little decorator. She didn't want to be interrupted by taking a picture. She was busy "frosting" the house:) It's amazing where I found black frosting -- around, under and on the table.

Brianna and Kalen hard at work.

Dylan working on his Halloween project with his teacher. Something was really fun to him. The ghost's hands are cut outs of Dylan's hands. What an awesome idea!!! I totally want to do more arts and crafts with Brianna and Dylan, and I thought this was a great craft idea:) Dylan loves his teacher. We love her too! She is fabulous and really understands Dylan and his needs. It so neat to watch them both interact with each other.

Another tradition we wanted to start is decorating the house for Halloween. Kalen & I had fun with Brianna picking out different things for the house. Dylan would have been with us, but my mom was watching him for a few hours because he was having a really bad day. We got pumpkins lights, light up ghosts, bats & pumpkins, scarecrows, spiderwebs & a spider. We all had lots of fun putting up everything.

Dylan's PT has really been working with Dylan on sitting and getting into a sitting position. He can't sit by himself, but we are so excited that he will help us get him into a sitting position, by bearing weight through his right hand and arm. We and she is so excited. If Dylan uses air braces then he can stay in a sitting position for a few minutes on his own accord, except for when he laughs. Then he falls over. He thinks that is even funnier than whatever made him laugh in the first place.

Dylan went to an orthopedic appointment a few weeks ago. we have established a great "baseline" for Dylan in regards to the x-rays that were taken of this hips and pelvic area. Kids like Dylan normally have huge issues in those areas that require surgery. the good news is, that Dylan right now is looking good, but we have to keep up on all this weight bearing activities. So with that said here is Dylan below in his stander. the toy he is playing with can be turned in a circle. Dylan has now been able to consistently be able to turn it. we've had this toy for 2 years, and he can now move it in a circle. We are so happy!!! Kalen and I just have to remind ourselves that sometimes when it comes to Dylan, that just because something isn't happening at the moment, won't mean it won't ever. It's so huge that he will bear weight through an open hand, while trying to sit up(not independently). Dylan's PT also wants to try a "crawling device", since he will now bear weight through his hands and arms sometimes. he currently has a "gait trainer" that helps with walking. Yes you read that right, walking!!! who knows, maybe one day Dylan will be able to walk. If he doesn't that's find, but if he can, it will be a whole new world for him:) That's what we are ecstatic about:)

My dear friend, Christine, had been anxiously waiting the arrival of her little girl. I was asked to watch her daughter, Emma, who is 18months. It was such a pleasure. Brianna was unsure at first and then wanted to act like an 18month old.(that was fun) We had lots of fun and enjoyed Emma here. she is welcomed anytime!!!

Emma and Brianna hanging out on the couch.

Some random pics of the kids....................

Our friend Emma

notice the bib on Brianna.......she wanted to be like Emma.

MaryEllen was playing over at Grandma Faulconer's and asked if she could come over and play with Brianna. Kalen put on a movie and made them popcorn(they each got their own little bowl, it was so sweet!) they loved hanging out on our bed and being "big girls". They keep us busy when they are around each other, but it's so worth them being close or at least learning to be close. we figure at least this way, they will hopefully be close for the rest of their lives.

Brianna got her first Barbie a few weeks ago. She loves it. She calls it her doll. If anyone is dressed up she tells them they look like her princess doll. she is so sweet. we sure do love her. She is such a funny girl! Barbie sure have changed since I played with them. They are much more realistic now. body image wise.....

Kalen took some time off to go with Brianna on her field trip to the pumpkin farm with her class. They had so much fun. Brianna was so happy her daddy was able to take her. She still talks about going with daddy to the pumpkin farm. Here are some pics of their day:)

Brianna and her friend Mia and her brother Jace.

Brianna is really into princesses right now. So when I bought her the Sleeping Beauty DVD, I got her a sleeping beauty dress. She loves dressing up in it. It's a little bit too big since she is so petite, but loves it anyways.

Look at her hand on her hip......

We went to the beach for the first time ever with the kids. Some of you might be thinking, first time ever......well we learned a few things. Wheelchairs don't work on the beach, bring a change of clothes, a plastic bag for wet clothes, a change of clothes and a few other things. The thought crossed our minds that the wheelchair probably wouldn't go far on the sand and that was confirmed. We were in such a hurry to make it to Dylan's doctor appointment, that we forgot to grab the extra things. Oh well. There is always next time:)

Here's come pics from that day.

The is one of my favorite pics of Kalen & Dylan.

Don't those faces make you smile. Glad I get to wake up to them everyday.

Kalen found these cat ears for $0.49. What a great find! She's really been in love with cats ever since we came back from our trip to Washington. Kalen's parents have 2 cats, and Brianna still talks about them today. She reminds me of how much fun and the great memories we made when we went to visit family up in Washington.

This is our hall bath. Since we have a new vanity and countertop we decided we want to switch out the lighting and medicine cabinet and mirror. well......the light fixutre went up without a problem, but..... when Kalen took the old medicine cabinet down, paint came off the wall as well. So I have been peeling paint for the past few weeks. Kalen and I are going to be retexturing the walls, then prime the walls, paint, and then finally put up the medicine cabinet. In the process of this we got a few bids on what it would cost to take out the shower/tub combo and put in a new tub, tile surround, and tile floor. Keep in mind we just had to redo the master bathroom this past march so we had a good idea what a reasonable bid would be. We got a huge bid. we were disappointed because we really liked the guy. So on that note, Kalen and I will be doing most of the work and then hiring someone to come redo the plumbing, install the tub, and then put in tile. Next on our list in windows, crown moulding, a new front door, a new screen door, french doors into our office/therapy room, a new roof, and.....I think that's it. one thing at a time we keep telling ourselves. That's all we can do. So anyone know of a good tile guy????

I found out why the paint just peels off the wall. Some nimrod painted latex paint over oil based paint and never primed it. Who does that?????