High Def shopping

We went to Lowe's to pick out a new sink today. I am IN LOVE with the sink we picked out. It is deeper than our current sink and has some nice curves. This is close to it but not exactly the same.

It is just so nice and shiny! I am really over stainless steel sinks.

After Lowe's we went to lunch and then to Marshall's. Of course we had to look at sunglasses because one of us always loses theirs. So we found David a new pair and they are HD Polarized glasses. He would not take the stupid things off. In all fairness they really did make everything super super sharp and clear. Come on though - you are inside a store - you look like a dork - take off the @$#&^%$# glasses! :)

Still waiting for Z to start acting normally. Both kids took really poor naps today - like less than an hour - and were acting tired by 5. I am not sure if the new tubes are more uncomfortable than the old tubes or if Zach is still feeling 'off' for some reason. I want my little guy to get back to normal soon! I am just not used to him being so whiney!

Oh! On a fun note - we booked our hotel room for the night before the http://onesmallstep.fpwr.org/dw/users/zachattackhenderson/williamsburg event! It will be the first time any of us have been to Great Wolf but it sounds like it should be a great experience.
BTW - feel free to click the above link if you would like to donate! 

weird day

Zach had a weird day today. He had PT but was super spastic during it. Usually he shows whatever new trick he has learned but today he couldn't seem to focus enough to do it. Jennifer (PT) did some compression therapy and he loved it. He leaned his head back and nuzzled her. It was really sweet.

After PT we went to look at counter tops and I LOVED it!! All the choices! It was so great! We ended up getting a pretty laminate from WilsonArt HD. I don't know if most people are familiar with HD laminates but the stuff looks great. It has textures, depth and nice variations. I am thrilled that we are going to be able to get both counter tops for less that $350! Woohoo!!!

Suzie had preschool today which means that Zach has a little more tackle-free play time. Today he put on a hat and proceeded to dance the day away. It was so cute to watch! He was just standing there twisting his body back and forth. I have to admit - he has WAY better rhythm than Suzie does. 

We heard back from Mesa Vista and Suzie will be able to start hippo this Saturday. I told her today that she was going to be able to ride a horse on Saturday. Her response was "Zachy goes first". I told her that she could pet a horse and she informed me that she already petted the horse. 

Suzie also informed me that I was not allowed to balance on the brick strip along the driveway because "It's for kids - not grown-ups". Further more - it is for "Little kids, with little feet, little ankles, little legs, little tummies, little arms, little hands, little shoulders and little heads". She seriously said all this. Chickie freaking cracks me up. Needless to say - I am not allowed to balance with her. 

Ears, Beers and Cheers

Yesterday David and I attempted to smoke a Boston Butt in our smoker. The meat was nice and tender but the connective tissue was still super tough - so into the crock pot it went with a bottle of cider beer. We had it today for lunch and it was SO yummy. I did some more research on it today (my brother called me and he provided me with some great suggestions) and I think I know what to do differently next time.

Zachy had tubes put in again this morning. The last 2 surgeries he has had we followed the PWS rules/suggestion and had the surgery done in the hospital just in case there were any complications with anesthesia. He has had zero issues and seemed to have MORE of an issue with the long wait before and after the procedure. So today we opted for the surgery center. It was wonderful. We got there at 7 and we were out the door and in the truck by 8. Zach was very mad - which is normal post anesthesia behavior - and just wanted to get out of there. The staff was awesome and they let me scoot right away. He had a couple longer than normal naps today - but nothing totally abnormal.

Suzie also had an appt today to get her eyes rechecked. The doctor said that her eyes are getting better and she will probably NOT have to have surgery to correct her strabismus! Yay!

We also had a special visitor this evening - the ice cream truck!! I don't remember having them drive through our neighborhood before so I think I was more excited than Suzie was. She made up she her delayed enthusiasm very quickly once she realized when the truck had inside. We sat outside while she had her popsicle and she was eaten alive but something. She ended up with huge welts on her legs and her neck. Poor chickie. She in Claratin'd and Benedryl'd up so hopefully they won't blister up.

Notice the black on her nose? The Dora popsicle had black gumballs for the eyes. Good concept - bad reality. 

bath time was about 3 minutes after this picture

Tomorrow we have PT and I am looking forward to seeing if Jennifer can see any changes from the last time she saw him 2 weeks ago. I think he has made some huge changes - but I am a tad biased.

Monday - Yay!

Funny how much I now look forward to Mondays. Suzie is in preschool so I have time to play with Z and not have to have someone talking all day long. Silence truly is golden.

Zachy had his pre-op appointment with Dr Snead today. They weighted and measured him and proclaimed him fir for surgery tomorrow. We have opted to go ahead and do outpatient surgery. This will be Z's 3rd time with anesthesia and he has had zero issues so far. The reason I am doing outpatient for inpatient is the duration Zach waits before surgery. Last time we ended up having to wait 2 hours before surgery and for a little guy first that is a long time to have to wait when you are hungry. I am nervous about the change but I hope it is a good one.

Zach has made some fun changes the past couple of days. Now he is climbing on everything. This morning he climbed onto one of the reclines and then onto the coffee table. This afternoon he stood on a box and them onto another coffee table.

Suzie decided that she wanted to help Zach walk. These are the results of her efforts...

I keep waiting for one of them to tap out, call mercy or SOMETHING - but they just keep going. Love it!!

Hippotherapy

Hippotherapy has to be one of the most unheard of therapies around. Unless you know to about it - you don't know about it. A lot of medical professionals have never even heard of it. That said - it is awesome. Zach basically was allowed to 'play' for 30 minutes without ever knowing he was working.  I wasn't totally sure what to expect. I thought maybe they had some sort of saddle that would resemble a saddle version of a Bumbo to support the kids enough to ride. Instead they had an Occupational Therapist, the owner and 2 teenage volunteers who lead the horse around and help support the child. It is quite a team effort.

When we got to Mesa Vista Therapeutics I was very happy to see a familiar site - Ali's kid mobile! Yay! It was nice knowing that there would be a familiar face in this new endeavour. Suzie was very very excited to see all the horses. She ran to run to the fence to talk to them right away.

Once we got inside the barn we saw Ali, Emmett and Cole. Cole and Suzie are about the same age, Cole said that he was 3 and Suzie will be 3 in August. Cole has about the same volume control as Suzie. I thought I was shushing Suzie - until I looked over and say that I was shushing Cole - oops. I was worried about scaring the horses - which I guess is something I really shouldn't be concerned about.

Some pics of Ali and Emmett, Cole and Suzie.

Seriously - could Cole and Suzie be any cuter?? Suzie wanted to ride a horse - desperately - we told her that she couldn't ride a horse until she worked up the nerve to pet a horse. By the time we left she was over her fear of horses.

When we got there, Ali's son Dean was having his lesson. He is such a cutie!!

After his lesson Dean wanted to see the other horses. He FLEW down the aisles between the horses. I tried to get more pictures of him using his walker - but he was SO fast!!!

When it was Zach's turn they fitted him with a helmet and then they got him used to being on a horse. They walked him all around the arena several times. With each pass they had him facing different directions on the horse. It was hysterical to see Zach riding a horse backwards. Zach LOVED being able to feel the difference textures of the horse. We are going to do hippo once a week - we may sneak in an additional visit once Zach builds up some more strength - but now once is enough.

One amazing thing is that I can already see some changes. We have been working with Zach putting rings on one of his stacking toys. Yesterday that had him put some horse chew rings onto one of the volunteer's arms. Tonight was playing with his stacking toy and put a ring on all by himself!! Also - he is doing some cutely weird springing up thing when he is sitting. I am not sure what it is - but he wasn't doing it yesterday!!

Here are alllllll the Z pics from yesterday - and a few more of Suz :)

Zach felt that any chew toy that was good for the horse - was good enough for him!

I just don't get it....

We took Zachy to the ENT today to find out what we needed to do about the tube in his ear that was falling out. When we arrived there was a disabled girl in a wheelchair with her caregiver (nurse? babysitter? emotionally unattached idiot?) sitting in the chair next to her. We waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes. During that time the caregiver did not say one word to the girl (she was probably around 13(?)) nor did she pay her ANY attention. I do not know what the girl's physical or mental challenges were - maybe she did not like to be talked to or touched - but it just felt so cold. I think seeing a caregiver behave like that further cemented the fact that I will always be a stay at home mom. I don't think I could ever be "okay" with anyone treating Suzie or Zachy like that.

Fast forward to the end of the day. We had a gourmet dinner at Cici's (Right now it is too hard taking the kids to anything that it not FAST) and then had to go to Walmart to get a variety of things. When we were done David took Zach to the truck while I paid. Walking out Suzie and I stopped a little boy who was walking out of the bathroom totally by himself.

I asked him were his parents were - and he said that his Dad was at work but that his mom was at home. I asked who he was there with and he said that he was with his grandpa. Grandpa was still in the bathroom. So this little guy, Suzie and I had quite a long conversation. He invited us to come over to play tomorrow, when I said we couldn't make it he wanted to know when we would be able to make it. It went on and on. He was a very sweet little boy. I started to get concerned because Grandpa was still MIA. FINALLY Grandpa strolls out of the bathroom, takes Luke and starts to walk away. He said to me "I told him to stay in there!" I informed Gpa that Luke was about to head out the front doors. Gpa never batted an eye, never said thank you or even seemed concerned! WTH???

On a very different note - I FINALLY perfected my pound cake recipe and I made a PERFECT pound cake tonight! SO excited and pleased with myself!!!

Doctors, princesses and bedtimes

Today was Zachy's 15 month well child visit. Sure he is 16months but I forgot to make the appt when I left his 12 month well child and his Dr is very popular. Zach always gets super excited and happy when he goes to see a doctor. I don't know if it all the new people he can flirt with, being in a new place or exactly what causes him to get so cutely manic. Here are a few pictures of Zach at the Orthopaedic office and Dr. Snead's (pediatrician) office.

I am not sure how long Zachy kept the glasses on - he loved wearing them and would get upset when they would fall off.

Overall Zach's appointment went really well. The only hiccup is one of Zach's ear tubes is starting to fall out so we have to go back to the ENT tomorrow to get it checked out. We thought that something may be going on because Zach had been playing with his ear again.

While we were at our appointment Amanda was crazy enough to watch Suzie for us. Suzie was in rare form today - so excited to be able to play with her big sister! As soon as Amanda got here Suzie was ready to go in the pool - here is a picture of a very excited Suzie in her pink "I'm a Princess!!" bathing suit.

When we got home and Amanda was getting ready to leave Suzie very politely told her "Bye Bye Amanda - thank you for coming to my birthday pawdy" It was so freaking cute! Of course her birthday is 2 months away - but every day is her birthday around here. Today she said she wanted a pink SUPER girl cake. I wonder what it will be tomorrow....

On a different subject - I put the kids to bed 5 out of 7 nights a week. I put them down for naps probably about 40% of the time - David does the rest. I am not always in the mood to read them a zillion books or sing countless songs - but I do. Sometimes Suzie gets up a few times before really settling down, not always, just once in a while. Usually, as long as I follow my standard bedtime routine, both kids are fading off to the land of nod as the last notes of Twinkle Twinkle are being whispered. That said - I sort of find this book funny - but I also find it sad that the writer could really hate the joy and blessing of putting your kids to bed.

I don't know why this bothers me. When I first heard about it I laughed. Then I heard/saw it on YouTube with Samuel Jackson doing the voice over, it hit home how angry this book really sounded.  Maybe I am just reading too much into it, maybe I am too soft on my kids or maybe it really is a mean book.

Last note - my antibiotics have finally kicked in and my strep throat and tonsillitis seems to be fading. Yay me!! :)