Our Scott Spot

Deacon's Language Update

2012-02-29T17:00:00.005-06:00

I put off doing development updates for Deacon because I am always waiting for an event to happen, like doctor appointments, evaluations, medicine changes, etc., so that I can have something definite and concrete to share. I am starting to learn that if I wait for a final result the blog will never get written, so better to write more frequent updates than none at all.

In November we decided to change Deacon from his Topamax prescription to Valproic Acid due to his lack of language/communication (a known side effect of Topamax). During the transition from one medication to the other we saw an increase in his focus, vocal skills, and sound mimicking. But as he weaned off the Topamax and the Valproic Acid increased his new skills gradually disappeared. He have added a prescription of vitamin B6 to see if that helps.

The older Deacon is getting the wider the gap grows between him and his peers. Picking him up from daycare, 18 month old classmates wave saying "bye-bye Deacon" on our way out. Deacon has no idea what "bye-bye" means, or could name any of his friends, let alone his own name. He does make some sounds (ah, ga, la, ma) and can clap, but other than that the only way he communicates is the same as a baby: by crying when upset/tired/hungry and smiling/laughing when happy. Still, I thought he was probably at the communication level of a 12 month old.

In January Deacon had his re-evaluation through ECI. The therapists warned me that they had a new test for measuring his progress and not to be surprised if he scored low because it doesn't take into account vision issues or language delay. I was shocked when results put him at an 8 month old for language. (He is now 2)

Seeing it in black and white sucks. I have had a hard couple of months coming to terms with his long term prognosis, and all this extra time on my hands due to bedrest has really put me in a funk. I have been trying hard to stay optimistic, but the unknown is scary, and the internet makes things appear even scarier. Every night as I lay awake in bed, these are the thoughts that replay over and over in my mind:

Does this get better?
Will it be easier when Bennett gets here and (hopefully) develops "normally?" Or will it break our hearts to see Deacon's little brother surpass him in some areas?
What if something happens to Brian? How could I survive without him?
What if something happens to both of us, who would take on such a huge task of possibly caring for Deacon in his childhood and possibly his adulthood too?
Will Deacon need adult care or will he be able to be independent one day?
Will Deacon be in regular classes when he starts school or will he be in life skills?

After a couple of weeks of this I finally remembered that there is nothing I can do but hand it over to God. I am really good about handing things over to God, the problem is leaving it with him. I like to take it back and stress over it a little more before giving it back to Him again.

Last week a stomach virus hit Deacon that left him not eating/drinking and throwing up for 3 days solid. By the third day we were worried that he had been missing his doses of seizure medicine and went to the ER. Just like a broken car that you take to the shop and is miraculously better, so was our Deacon, who downed a bottle of water and bag of cheetos as we sat in the room waiting to be seen. It took a couple more days for him to recover, but what we noticed was, with less medicine in his system, he has actually been more vocal and focused!

We are now wondering if this illness was a blessing in disguise...maybe his dosage is too high?? Could this be why his language improved with his medication transition, but once he started taking too much it disappeared? We haven't talked to his neurologist yet, but we decided to try continuing Deacon at 5ml twice a day, instead of his prescription of 7.5 to see how it goes. No signs of seizures, but obvious improved cognitive skills!

In the past week he has already picked up so many new skills and just seems "with it." Even his grandparents have noticed the change. He will sit in our laps and play with non-musical toys like balls and blocks and stay focused for longer amounts of time. Deacon is making a couple new sounds (a-ga, s, hi) and can kiss! He even figured out how to drink from a straw! His therapist noticed today too; here is part of the report she wrote:

He is starting to imitate!! Mom would sing "la la la" and pause, Deacon would answer with a very similar sound! Then Mom would wave and he would wave back. Then we started playing a tickle game. We would tickle his tummy and back off. Deacon would laugh and if we paused, he would walk to us and stick out his belly. After a few times he lifted his shirt!! He made great eye contact the entire sessions!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that these new changes are a sign of things to come and making the most of every second he is willing to learn!

Up next: results from a recent EEG and an appointment to Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics in April (after a year and a half on the waiting list!).

Carson's New School

2012-02-27T22:00:00.002-06:00

Carson has transitioned so well into his new school! I think he is most excited to be a 'bus rider.' He has met so many new kids in our neighborhood from riding, every time I look in our backyard after school there is another new child bouncing on our trampoline. Carson is so thrilled about his new ride and friends, that he now insists on riding in the morning too and, to my delight, doesn't even complain about waking up!

Carson has already participated in a couple of fun activities at school too. His class Valentine Party. (I love that the teacher already knows my guy and put him at a table full of girls to keep him on task!):

Friday was "Go Texan Day" where kids are encouraged to wear western attire. I have never been a big fan of a cowboy, but my cutie may have converted me:
Just a couple of weeks until Spring Break. I hate that I am on bedrest and can't take him to do anything super exciting during his first official Spring Break, but I am thinking he will be more than happy to hang out with all of his new friends. (And I'm sure he will make up for this Spring Break in his college years!)

Bennett's Bedding

2012-02-22T09:39:00.003-06:00

We have been debating about what to do for Bennett's bedding. The set that we had from Deacon's nursery is still in good condition and already has coordinating paint on the walls. But a part of me has been thinking every baby deserves a nursery with fresh sheets that haven't been thrown up, peed on, etc. by their siblings. Plus, we would still need to purchase new bedding for Deacon to replace what we were giving to Bennett. So, we decided Deacon would use his blankets in the new room and once we move him to a toddler bed, we will get him new stuff. And Bennett will get a fresh new set!

I am not a big fan of nurseries that feel too themed. I didn't want cars or animals, just a simple, modern pattern. Because I am home on bedrest, and my checks could stop at any time, we have tried to keep a tight budget, making cost important. Also, after all the hard work Brian put into the new room, I was hoping to find a color scheme that matches the walls that we already have.

We totally lucked out when I just happened to come across the PERFECT bedding at Target! It is simple and contains the colors baby blue and brown. Best of all it was on clearance for $39.98, regular price $79.99, AND free shipping!
Deacon is splitting his nights between his new room and the old one, like when Carson has friends staying the night, or we have a feeling Deacon might be waking at night with a cough. Bennett will also be sleeping in a bassinet the first couple of months in our room, so I am not sure when we will actually start preparing the actual nursery...

Garage Conversion

2012-02-20T20:02:00.011-06:00

I don't think I have ever been prouder of my husband and am so thrilled to finally be able to show off all of his hard work from the past few months!

After finding out we were expecting a third child we spent a lot of time debating what to do about our living situation. We have lived in our 1,550 sq ft, 3 bedroom house for five years. When we moved in we had only Carson, and plenty of room to spare. Then, Deacon came along and our spare bedroom turned into a nursery. The furniture got dispersed throughout our house and attic along with all the random junk that the room held. We have fit comfortably into our home, but started to feel a little cramped with all the stuff we have accumulated through the years. And surprise: another pregnancy! Although we have some equity in the house now, the housing market sucks. We are afraid if we sell we will only break even, or worse, be in the hole.

We love our house; it is less than ten years old and is in a great neighborhood with lots of young families. When my aunt suggested that we consider converting the garage into another room, we started doing some research. We had about $3,000 to spend and decided we would go for it. Having a handy husband, who also knew a contractor helped us to cut costs. After about two months of work, mostly done on the weekends, we are about finished (with just a little more decorating and paint touch-ups) and it could not look more amazing!

We wanted to keep part of the garage for storage, so decided to build a wall that runs parallel to the garage door, which is still able to be opened, leaving the exterior of our house looking exactly the same.

I tried to keep up with pictures throughout the project (some are taken with my phone). I thought I took a picture of the garage before we started, but can't seem to find it. So here it began, framing (cost break-down is listed at the end): When framing was finished, the contractors took a couple of days off so that Brian could run the wiring for lights in the closet (the contractors built that too) and additional electrical outlets. Our garage only had one outlet; Brian added five more.
When he finished the wiring, the contractors came back to do the taping and floating. (I learned so many new terms!)
And then they textured:

Once the doors were installed and texturing was finished, so were our contractors! From that point on, Brian did all the work, with some help from our neighbor and family. He painted the ceiling, installed ceiling fans, ran air duct and vent, and put additional insulation in the attic:

My nephew, Ethan, spent a night and helped paint the walls.
Our neighbors are absolutely amazing! They traded services with someone and got laminate flooring for their house. After installing it in their dining room, they decided they didn't like it and replaced it with a different type. Since then, the flooring was stacked up at their house not being used. When they found out about our project, they GAVE it to us!! It saved us a chunk of change and it looks perfect in the room!After telling him what I wanted, Brian built the shelving in the closet. (I love that I come up with the ideas and he can execute them!)

When the floors and closet were complete, we finished up the project with beadboard panels! They really are my favorite part of the room and make it feel homey.

All that was left was decorating and cleaning! I am blown away by Carson and Deacon's new football-themed bedroom!!

We have a few things to hang on the walls (bookshelves and the boys names), but I couldn't wait any longer to share! There is SO much room for both guys, while still having the fun of sharing a bedroom!
Carson's clothes and toys have already been moved in, but there is still plenty of space for Deacon's stuff.
I think Brian and Carson's favorite part of the room is the extra touch Brian added: a 4ft x 6ft projection screen. We had a projector sitting in one of our closets, so Brian mounted it to the ceiling and ran wires through the attic and into the walls by the closet, along with surround sound speakers. There isn't any cable running to the projector, but the xbox is connected to it, allowing the boys to watch movies and play video games on a huge screen!
We also debated about whether or not to install a door leading to the garage. Brian wanted one added so that the boys would have an additional way to get out in the event of a fire, and it is nice to still be able to access the freezer in the garage from inside the house. (Door leading to the garage on the left, entrance to their bedroom on the right)
I am almost jealous of our big boys new 21ft x 15ft suite! It is wonderful to have so much more room in our house, and I think Carson loves having his room with a view to the living room when he falls asleep at night.

We are also thankful that our project came out just under $3k.

Deacon's 2nd Birthday Party

2012-02-13T09:02:00.010-06:00

Deacon's 2nd birthday at Little Gym turned out fabulous! Because Deacon loves music so much, we decided to go with a rock 'n roll theme and it suited him perfectly.

His party started at 5:30pm, so we were able to get two naps in on Saturday, thinking that would have him well rested. Unfortunately, he has been battling a runny nose and cough and decided not to eat very much all day, putting him in a less than stellar mood when the party started.

But, as the party got going, so did he!! He LOVES Little Gym, the music, and being able to climb on everything.

He also had an amazing turn out with kids of all ages!!

I wasn't sure if this party would be geared more towards the little ones, but it wasn't! The big kids had just as much fun, if not more!

The first part of the party was free play, where everyone got to do their own thing. Then it was structured play, where Deacon participated in his favorite activity: the parachute!
He laughed and smiled more than any kid at the party!
Since he was the birthday boy, they put him in the middle while the guests circled him and shook the parachute singing "Happy Birthday."
He was so thrilled, he had us all laughing along with him!

Then, they let the other little ones on to join him!

And the big kids got to go underneath while the adults covered them up.

After the parachute came the inflatable bouncer.
I tried to get some pictures, but with all the jumping the kids all looked like blurs.
Finally came the bubbles, and again, even the big kiddos were excited!

When everyone had spent their energy it was time for pizza and cake!

By the time the presents were opening, we only had about 10 minutes left of the party and Deacon was exhausted!

His favorite present of the evening was this cuddly tiger:
To speed the unwrapping up, we asked Carson to help, which he did gladly, along with some friends. The opening went so quickly we lost track of who gave what (and even found some gifts I hadn't seen when we got home)!
As the party ended, everyone picked up their goody bags!

Each guest received inflatable guitars, rubber spike bracelets, rocker sunglasses and pop rocks candy.
And as you probably guessed, Deacon was down for the count by the time we loaded up and got home!

Deacon's Valentines

2012-02-10T22:49:00.004-06:00

Deacon's class is filled with toddlers, so I thought something other than candy would be best for his exchange. What kid doesn't like goldfish??

This project was so cheap; I spent less than $10 for two boxes of goldfish, bags, and tags! I printed these as 4x6 pictures at Walgreens and cut them in half, but also included a larger blank version if you want to make your own message. (To steal: click picture, right click and choose "save picture as")

Carson's Valentines

2012-02-10T10:11:00.004-06:00

I am obsessed with pinterest and have boards dedicated to crafts for each holiday. I am scared to recreate any of the gifts I have found out of fear that someone else will have seen it and will be making the same one (kind of like not wanting to show up to an event in the same outfit lol). So for now, I use them as inspiration for craftiness, but still do my own thing.

For Carson's Valentine party next week I decided to hit up my favorite dollar store: Dollar Tree and found these adorable bobble head robots. At $1 each, I spent less than $30 to get a candy robot for each kid in his class.
I wasn't a big fan of the nutrition label on the tube, so instead of trying to peel each one off, I used shipping labels (2 inch x 4 inch) and covered them up.

Next, using shutterfly studio and pinterest I created 4x6 cards to cut in half and attach with ribbon. I was torn between 2 different sayings and decided to go with the top one, but included the other one if you like it better. You should be able to click the image to make it larger, right click and choose "save as" to download on your computer, then just add your child's name. I had them printed at Walgreens for less than $5.

Carson's 1st Day of Kindergarten - Take 2

2012-02-09T15:29:00.002-06:00

Carson started school in the district where I work, and was super lucky to have been accepted into the dual language program. Due to my bed rest it will be close to impossible to drive him 45 minutes to and from school there. We made the tough decision to move him into the elementary where our neighborhood is zoned.

He, along with us, has had mixed emotions about the transition. He loves his teachers and friends at his old school, and was really excited to be learning Spanish. But, his new school is only a couple of minutes from our house (which means not having to spend two hours in the car each day and getting home close to dark), he will get to go to school with friends from our neighborhood, and in his opinion, the best benefit is that he gets to ride the school bus home each day! The dress codes are fairly similar, both schools requiring collared shirts, but his old school allowed it to have patterns and pictures, his new school only solid colors with logo smaller than a quarter. But, his new school doesn't require shirts to be tucked in (notice how excited he is about this in his picture).

We waited until yesterday to withdraw him from his old school because it was class picture day and we wanted to be sure he would get one and also be in their yearbook. Brian picked him up early yesterday so that he could complete the necessary paperwork, and said Carson cried in the office and on the way home. :( He also cried himself to sleep last night, making my heart break for him.

Luckily, Carson has never been a shy kid and has always been able to make friends easily, so we made sure to talk that up last night and before school today. He was all enrolled by 10:00am this morning, and even saw our neighbor, James in the hallway before going in to meet his new class and teacher.

This afternoon, he was all smiles! When asked how his first day was and he said "GREAT!" He already made a new friend (couldn't remember his name, of course) that showed him the ropes, ate tacos and an ice cream sandwich at lunch ("tasted even better" than his old school), got to run and play basketball in PE, and "didn't get any homework!" It is not even 4:00, and he is already outside playing with the kids from the neighborhood!

It is such a relief that today went so well. Thank God for making children so adaptable to change!

Bed Rest

2012-02-08T11:03:00.004-06:00

This pregnancy has been a little different than the first two go-rounds. I'm not sure if it is because I already have two children that keep me busy, the fact that I am pushing 30, or that by body is over making babies and wanting to make sure I don't have more kiddos.

I am gaining weight at a faster rate, swelling started early this pregnancy and isn't just in my ankles and calves, but some days all the way up to my knees and thighs. Standing for too long causes me to be out of breath and feel like my heart is pounding out of my chest. On top of all that I am more emotional/moody, and just now beginning to understand why pregnant women don't go around smiling and glowing all the time.

I have been busy dealing with all of the above, along with a 2 hour commute each day, getting both boys ready and dropped off at two separate locations for school and making it to work before eight, Deacon's therapy needs, Carson's reading and Spanish for kindergarten, teaching, student council, holidays, and so on...and somehow making it all work without going crazy. But then, the contractions started.

In early January, I would periodically get what felt like Braxton Hicks during the later part of an especially busy day and would disappear by the time I got home and relaxed. By the end of the month the contractions were definitely stronger and coming at regular intervals about 10-15 minutes apart. After work on the 31st I figured I would call my doctor and just schedule an appointment to share my concerns. As soon as I mentioned contractions to the receptionist she immediately put me through to the nurse, who told me to go to the hospital for monitoring. The hospital hooked me up to monitors and did an ultrasound of Bennett to see how he was and check his size (1lb. 11oz.) and called my doctor for her opinion. She wanted me to stay on bed rest for two days and follow up with her on the second day.

At my appointment I was still having a little cramping and my doctor asked me what was more important: Bennett or work? When I chose Bennett, she said she would feel safer putting me on bed rest because she was concerned of pre-term labor and with a 14 week premature baby, the outcome could be scary.

So here I am.

For those of you who know me, laying around doing nothing is not my thing. I am a week into this and already trying to find activities in the house to keep me busy. I wish I could do the paperwork end of my job from home to help out my colleagues and long-term sub, but have been firmly told that I could no longer do anything work related. I have been able to do a few projects from bed (100 day shirt and Deacon's party invitations), but other than that, my day mostly consists of reading, watching movies, and playing on the computer.

I was in such shock at the initial appointment when I was told that I would be on bed rest, that I didn't even know there were stages of bed rest or think to ask which stage I would be placed on. So, at today's appointment I got a few more details.

I am on modified/regular bed rest, which means no: work, strenuous chores, heavy lifting, standing/walking for more than 5-10 minutes, climbing stairs, long shopping trips, etc. I am allowed to leave the house occasionally for non-strenuous activities like sitting at church or the movies, as long as I don't have to climb stairs, or stand or walk a long distance. (And luckily got permission for Deacon's birthday party this weekend as long as I rest before and after and stay seated during the party!)

I am making myself stick to the rules, because I have already been warned that next comes strict bed rest and I don't want complete bed confinement!

Be prepared, with all of this free time on my hands, I may be busy blogging!

Carson's 100th Day

2012-02-03T10:25:00.003-06:00

Carson has already been in school for 100 days! As a celebration, all of the kindergarteners get to have a parade through the school sporting homemade shirts. The only instructions we were given was to be creative and represent the number 100. So here is what we came up with:

100 football beads (purchased at Hobby Lobby) each individually glued (Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue). Carson loved it, and we all placed bets last night to see how many footballs would still be on it by the time he got home from school. Carson guessed 10, Brian said 73, and I am hoping for 85.

Winterfest

2012-01-30T18:37:00.004-06:00

The great thing about Texas is that in the middle of January we get 70 degree weather! We took advantage this weekend at a local festival. Our city hosts Winterfest each year, where you pay an admission, and then most activities are free, like carnival rides, inflatables, and snow hill.

Brian worked, so he couldn't go, but his parents and nephew joined the boys and me. I think Carson and Jakob rode every ride they had!

This was the first festival where Deacon got to play too. He giggled on every ride and had a huge, glowing smile from the excitement.

We spent about 4 hours having fun and filled up on all that healthy carnival food, including deep fried hot chocolate! By the end of our fun-filled day, we were all exhausted.

6 Month Pregnancy Update

2012-01-29T19:32:00.003-06:00

How far along? 25 weeks

Mood: Is fat a mood?!?

Maternity clothes? Yes, and even some of those are getting too small in the stomach...

Sleep: It is getting a little harder to find that comfortable position, but once I do I sleep great.

Energy Level: Slowing down again. I start the day with energy, but just don't have the stamina to keep it going.

Best moments in the last month: Feeling lots of baby kicks!

Movement? Yes! Brian and a few friends have also gotten to feel Bennett in action.

Cravings: Lemon meringue pie and Big Red soda. (Probably the main contributors to the fat feelings!)

Baby purchases this month: No purchases, but a wonderful coworker gave us a gorgeous crib!

What I miss: Not having cankles at the end of the day from swollen legs.

What I am looking forward to: Spring Break

Bouncing Boys

2012-01-15T23:18:00.006-06:00

Our trampoline has gotten some great use when the weather cooperates!

Carson has become quite popular in our neighborhood with kids who love to jump!
Deacon, who was initially freaked out when we placed on the trampoline months ago, now LOVES to fly around!

Carson scares me when he gets going, but Deacon thinks it is the funnest thing ever!

If they aren't too exhausted, we even do a little swinging!

Top 10 of 2011

2012-01-14T07:58:00.004-06:00

This year our family decided to start a tradition for New Year's Eve: thanking the top 10 people who made the greatest impact on our year. I wanted to start the tradition by reaching outside of our "inner circle" of family and friends, who (I hope) we thank throughout the entire year.

I knew we would be out of town, and that dinner at Melting Pot usually lasts a few hours, so we planned everything before we left. As most of you know, this year has largely been impacted by the medical issues surrounding Deacon, so all of our thanks went out to those who have helped us through this year's roller coaster. I ordered personalized New Year's cards through Walgreens that included pictures of Deacon and stamped and addressed envelopes before we left for Austin.

I honestly had no idea how much this would impact us! I can't think of a better way to bring in a new year than to reflect back and give thanks to the year that had been given to us, trials included. It may have been my hormones, but I cried on more than one occasion during our dinner while reminiscing on 2011. (Brian may have gotten a little choked up too)

So, as David Letterman would say, "HERE'S OUR TOP 10!" (In order of occurrence through the year)

#1- Deacon's first daycare

Prior to 2011, Deacon had been staying at a lady's house for childcare.
An opening came up at Carson's daycare at the end of 2010, so we decided to switch Deacon to where his brother went at the beginning of the year. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Around December of 2010 is when I started to notice that Deacon seemed behind his peers. I mentioned it to a few people, but they reassured me that he was fine.

By the end of the first week, the director and teachers stopped me to let me know that they could see some delays in Deacon. They prompted me to make an appointment with his pediatrician and even wrote a letter listing their concerns to take with me.

#2- My School Nurse

When I went into teaching, I never thought that the nurse's office would be a place for an adult to visit. My school nurse is fabulous, and some days, probably sees just as many teachers as she does students! I can't count the number of time I went to her office crying when this all began. I had no idea where to even start to tackle the obstacles that were being thrown at us. She had lists of resources for me to contact: ECI, our district's Vision teacher, Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics, and countless others. After doctor appointments, I would call her for advice and her opinion. She would even answer late night phone calls of questions that I had and felt I needed an answer to immediately. Most of all, she took time out to check on me and ask for updates.

#3, #4, & #5 - Deacon's Therapists

Deacon has been blessed with the most amazing therapists! His two developmental therapists are through ECI and have been so helpful from the moment we met them. This past year, they each saw Deacon once a week at daycare and helped to teach him to be more social and use his fine motor skills to become independent. Each week we were given an update on his progress with pointers on things to work on for the week. He was given all kinds of resources, from hand splints to chewy tubes.

His vision therapist is through our local school district and she is just as wonderful! Over the summer I got to know her pretty well, and you could see the excitement in Deacon's face when she would show up for a visit! Her quick observations about our little guy still blow me away: exploring with his toes!?! She also put us in touch with Blind Services who have purchased a few items for Deacon and offered suggestions on toys for Deacon and even where to place them in our house for the most use.

#6 - Dr. Foster - Pediatric Neurologist

Dr. Foster was our 5th neurologist in less than 6 months, and the first one not through Texas Children's Hospital. The first four neurologists we saw, made us feel like we were wasting their time, even documenting in their notes the amount of time they had to sit with us and answer questions. Phone calls were rarely returned, and I had to ask for tests to be run instead of them being offered. Worst of all, we were given a different diagnosis' and outcome with each doctor we were referred to, typically misinformation. I feel terrible for those parents who went in not asking questions or doing their research beforehand.

We knew Deacon deserved better, so we asked around and found Dr. Foster. Our first appointment with him was amazing! He asked questions and actually appeared interested in finding answers. His goal hasn't just been for Deacon's seizures to stop, but also for his delays to be resolved. He has done countless blood tests, genetic testing, and has changed his prescription to help with his language. At one point, his nurse even called us and asked for Deacon to come in for another test before changing his medicine because Dr. Foster had a dream about him the night before and had thought of something else!

#7 & #8 - Local Mom's Group Creators

Carrie and I have been friends since Carson was little. We met through a local mom's group and she has an adorable son and daughter. I tell her all the time that I feel like we could be the same person sometimes! She loves spending time with her kids and finding fun things to do with them, she takes tons of pictures, loves party planning, and makes sure that her plate is always full with commitments. When her son was diagnosed with Asperger's this year, she and another mother decided that our area needed a support group for moms and families of children with disabilities/delays.

Looking back, I think this group may have been one of the few things keeping me sane. Together they created an online message board for members to talk, share information, and ask questions. Even better, they host monthly meetings for us to form a bond by sharing our stories, successes and tears. The ages and stages that our members are in vary, as well as our stories, but they could understand my emotions and fears in a way that was different than family and friends. After each meeting I came home feeling refreshed with more information/resources to research.

#9 - Deacon's New Daycare

When we pulled Deacon out for the summer, his spot was lost at his previous daycare. We spent a lot of July searching for a new facility that would work with Deacon and not try to push him into the cookie-cutter mold of the typical 18 month old. Some daycares require their kids to sleep on mats and drink from sippy cups while sitting in a chair during meals, none of these activities Deacon were quite ready for. So when we found the right place, his new daycare, we were so relieved!

They started him in a lower age group and waited until he was ready to move up classes, which didn't take long! They genuinely seem happy to see him in the mornings and are loving on him when we pick him up each day while they report his successes. Even Deacon's therapists have mentioned that they think he is one of their favorites!

#10 - Our Pastor and Church

Where would we have been without the message of God each weekend?!? So many services at church felt like they were meant especially for our family. We have been comforted knowing that God is with us through this journey and I have relied heavily on His word during the hardest parts. Our church has given us something to look forward to every Sunday, and our pastor always does an amazing job delivering! We spent multiple Sundays at the front of the church, after services were over, praying with the prayer partners. Deacon was also on the prayer list at church, where members would pray for him daily.

Through our church, I have formed an incredible relationship with God and my faith is stronger than ever!

New Year's Weekend Getaway

2012-01-08T11:07:00.007-06:00

Have I mentioned that we have an amazing family? Brian surprised me with babysitters (my parents) so that we could have a weekend away with just the two of us. I really think this is was our first trip alone since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago, and it was fabulous!!

We wanted to choose a place within a few hours of our house. My wonderful Aunt Claudia lives in California, but also has a condo in Austin. She offered to let us stay there, and even better she and her family came in town too! She is the best host and her condo is gorgeous, here is the view from her balcony:
We arrived in Austin late Thursday night, so that we could wake up early on Friday and have the whole day. We had breakfast in Austin and then drove to San Antonio. We knew that we wanted to stay until night so that we could see the lights on the Riverwalk, so we had lots of time to kill. We started by watching a movie at the Riverwalk Mall and then went sight-seeing.

Shopping:
We toured the Wax Museum too:

Pretty soon, it was time for dinner! This was the time we were most excited to be child-free (the rest of the trip we spent saying "Carson would love that..." and "Deacon would have so much fun there..."). No stroller-carrying over the bridges, no temper-tantrums blocking the walkway, and best off all, no taking turns on eating our meal while the other walks around with a kid. It was fantastic!

It was packed, but we walked right up to the first Mexican restaurant we came to and snagged a great patio table with a view to people watch and see the decorations. They also had virgin margaritas!!

After dinner we waited in line about an hour for the boat tour. (Again, so thrilled to be having grown-up time!) We lucked out and got put on a boat with the most hilarious tour guide.

We ended the night at Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar, where we sang along for about an hour and then headed back to the condo to visit with my family.
I don't know how I didn't get ANY pictures of my family! We ate lunch with them on Saturday and even drug the boys with us to Sam Moon! As you can see, Brian had a blast:
New Year's Eve evening we got dressed up and went to dinner at my very favorite restaurant: Melting Pot. (Another blog on our dinner is coming up)
We were back at the condo before midnight, and had time to count down the new year with my aunt and uncle.

On our way home the next day, we all had brunch at another relatives house with all the dishes you need for a successful new year: black eyed peas, cabbage, ham, and cornbread.

We had the best time, but it was wonderful to come home to our house and smoochie on our sweet boys!

5 Month Pregnancy Update

2012-01-07T09:04:00.005-06:00

How far along? 22 weeks

Mood: Great!! I am back to being a happy pregnant lady!

Maternity clothes? Yes, because this is my first pregnancy to be spent almost completely in the winter, I have had to add lots of maternity pants and sweaters to my wardrobe.

Sleep: If I could only bottle up this extra sleep I am getting and save it for when I really need it, when Bennett arrives, I would be fabulous!

Energy Level: Almost too good! I should probably slow down a bit because the nesting is already kicking in and I am determined to get everything in order around our house.

Best moments in the last month: Amazing ultrasounds, Christmas, and New Year's.

Movement? The ultrasound tech told me that due where my placenta is located, a lot of the kicks will be absorbed, making it hard to feel the light kicks. I usually notice the most movement when I lay down at night.

Cravings: Wedding cake snocones (luckily, there is a place by my house that still sells snocones in the winter!)

Baby purchases this month: Haven't purchased anything yet. We've had Carson's birthday, Christmas, garage conversion, and up next Deacon's birthday. Shopping spree will probably start in March.

What I miss: Not feeling gigantic! I won't even say how much weight I have already gained with little Bennett...

What I am looking forward to: Finishing the garage conversion and getting the stupid glucose test over with!

I also dug up my 5 month pregnancy picture with Deacon to do a side-by-side comparison between my two little boys (sorry Carson, I didn't do this with you!):

And here is my belly growing with Bennett:

Carson's 6th Birthday Party

2011-12-28T10:48:00.011-06:00

I used to be a huge advocate of at-home parties, but after having Carson's party at a venue last year, I realized how much easier and cheaper it is! I am able to relax and take pictures while the hosts run around.

Carson chose Chuck E. Cheese as the place to celebrate turning 6 and had a wonderful time!

Having a December birthday can be tough, but each year we are surprised by the turn-out he receives.

The first hour the kids spend their tokens playing games and the second hour is spent eating and opening presents. Deacon loves pizza!

Even for a Sunday evening, they were packed! We were very fortunate to get the table at the side of the party room so our group could spread out.

Cake time!

They really took care of the birthday boy, giving him a crown and medal.

Then, out came Chuckie!

Carson's favorite part of the party was the Ticket Blaster! We gave him a few pointers beforehand and he was ready!

He made out with over 200 tickets!
Next up: presents! Carson's Spanish teacher, Mrs. Jaramillo, even showed up and brought Operation.

I don't know how these six years have flown by so fast! Happy birthday, Big Brother!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-27T13:40:00.009-06:00

Santa obviously thought the boys were good this year because they were SPOILED! They both received football decor for their room, Carson got an XBox Kinect with 8 games and an extra controller, and Deacon now owns about every toy that lights up and plays music for his age! Brian and I didn't do too bad ourselves. I was given two purses, gift cards to Bath and Body Works, Kirklands, and a massage, along with a bunch of goodies for the house. Brian opened his pressure cooker, two belts, a wallet, gift card to Home Depot and clothes. We gave the grandparents photo books with pictures of the boys (I will probably blog about later) along with a few other gifts.

My absolute favorite part of Christmas this year was watching the boys play together as they opened presents. I can only imagine how much more fun future Christmas' will be with our three boys together, and then one day their families as well.

Deacon LOVED his new Fisher-Price house (I think Carson loved it a little too)!

He also really loved the shiny wrapping paper that Meme used!
Carson helped Deacon open his presents, while also tearing into his own!
For some reason Santa thought it was a good idea to bring Carson a 2 POUND candy cane in his stocking, even though we still have left over Halloween candy that hasn't been eaten...

Football slippers:
This glow-board was actually meant for Deacon, but because there were no tags on it, Carson claimed dibs on it. Maybe they can share?
Big ticket gift, XBox from Grandma and Grandpa:
Yes, we gave Carson Call of Duty. I guess we are "those" parents...but he already plays it at his cousins anyways, and I have yet to see any violent tendencies.

After taking so many pictures this weekend, I have also discovered Deacon's new chipmunk smile! He grins so big that his cheeks puff up and his eyes squint. I must admit, it is completely adorable.

Am I right!?!

My sister and her boys came over for breakfast, but in the midst of all the fun I must have forgotten to take any pictures!

Pretty soon it was time to clean up (4 trash bags worth of boxes and wrapping paper), our cat Lola thought she would help out by finishing up what Santa had left:

On to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we had a delicious dinner and played White Elephant!
Deacon enjoyed climbing on his cousins presents.
Carson had a blast having a dance-off with his new XBox game.
Grandpa even showed off a few moves that had us rolling!
This was one of my favorite photos of the day. Deacon loves his Dada's beard, giving Brian the opportunity for lots more kisses.
Grandma and Grandpa have gone to a few 3D movies:
We finished off the evening celebrating our nieces birthday, who was born on Christmas day last year.
Hope your Christmas was merry too!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-26T23:22:00.006-06:00

Our family had an amazing Christmas! We took so many great pictures of our family celebrating that it is going to take two blogs to show all the good ones!

Like every year, we started our evening off at church remembering what Christmas is all about. Carson got on stage and sang carols with all the children.

Afterwards, we went to Granny's for dinner and presents. She made my very favorite: fried squash!

Deacon liked the cheesecake the best:

Carson was so excited to open presents, he mostly filled up on bread.

My sister and nephews were in their usual, crazy form:

Meme and Pops kept the boys entertained too. Deacon is slightly partial to Pops, possibly because his Parkinson's is like his own, personal rocking chair and never fails at putting him to sleep!

Deacon awoke after most of the festivities were over to play a little more and have seconds on the cheesecake.

This was the only picture I could capture of the brothers in all the chaos!

That evening we loaded up the car with our gifts (my favorite being my new carpet steamer!) and headed home to get ready for Santa.

The boys changed into their matching jammies and we watched Christmas Story, while preparing breakfast casseroles for the morning.

We didn't forget about Santa or his reindeer:

We also made sure to say bye to Starry, who we won't see again until next year!
Santa was nice enough to leave us a picture, showing us that he stopped by and that he remembered to take Starry with him!

Baby Bennett's 20 Week Ultrasound

2011-12-23T14:53:00.003-06:00

Technology amazes me! It has only been two years since I had Deacon, and ultrasound equipment has already become more advanced. 3-D images are much more clear. Although an outsider may still find the grainy images a little creepy, we are thrilled to see the first glimpses of our new family member! The video clips are amazing too! You can see Bennett yawning, rubbing his eyes, and what even looks like a little wave!

At 20 weeks, Bennett is about the size of banana.

I love that he looks like he is smiling in this one:

We captured 2-D images as well, and Bennett was more than happy to remind us that he is a boy!

Upper body:

Legs:

In less than 20 weeks, we will get to see this cutie in person!

Winter Date Night with Carson

2011-12-22T07:49:00.004-06:00

Carson and I had a date night including dinner and a play last week. It was by far one of the best nights we have had together!

After Carson and I got out of school and work, we headed to Houston. When we got downtown, I let Carson choose where we would eat. It worked out perfect that the Aquarium was literally across the street from where our play was, so we only had to pay for parking once!

We have eaten at the Aquarium in Kemah, but this was our first time at the downtown location.

They was decorated beautifully for the holidays and Carson was mesmerized by the gigantic tanks of swimming creatures!

Because we arrived early, there was no wait AND we sat at a table right next to the tanks! (Carson could hardly stay seated to enjoy, he wanted to get right up by the fish!) He was even more thrilled when is shark icee arrived.

Our waitress insisted on taking another picture because the first one didn't have enough fish in the background. She was right, this picture is gorgeous! (And notice how HUGE Carson's smile is!)

The walk to our show was beautiful. Carson needed to pose by the color-changing building!

What this picture missed was all of the Occupy Houston protesters, which gave me the opportunity to explain to Carson how blessed we are to live in a country where people are allowed to voice their opinions without being hurt or arrested.

Once inside, we had time to hit up the craft table, where Carson made an ornament.

...and posed for another photo!

"White Christmas" was awesome!! Carson [and the elderly lady next to me] danced in his seat the entire musical! Our seats were up high, but we still had a great view of the stage.

Carson was asleep by the time we made it back to the freeway on the way home!

Carson's Kindergarten Christmas

2011-12-21T12:17:00.004-06:00

Carson's school had Supper with Santa before the break, where the Kindergartners also performed Christmas carols. Prior to the main event, he played at some of the craft tables they had set up.

Cookie decorating:

Door hanger:

Look at that handwriting! :)

Carson's class was absolutely adorable at their performance!!

Belting in out!

This picture is my ABSOLUTE favorite:

The kid on the top row totally reminds me of Will Ferrell in the ELF: "The best way to spread Christmas cheers is singing loud for all to hear!" I also love the kid next to Carson who is covering his face crying, and the boy in the front row who looks like he is asleep! Did I mention how stinkin' cute Kindergartners are?!?

Carson had quite the crowd there to watch him! Grandpa, Grandma, Daryl, Brian, Deacon, and me.

As you can see Deacon was either mesmerized by the music or the Cheetos...

Carson also had a class party the last day of school before Christmas Break. Brian and I had to work, so my mother went to help out. The night before, we made fruit kabobs to contribute to the party and they were a hit!

Carson had a great time!

This was my favorite picture from the party, Carson (who looks absolutely adorable) and his friend Everett.

It's times like these that I wish I could be a stay-at-home/room mom, but I am so glad we have family to attend the functions along with us or in place of us!

Boy's Christmas Shirts

2011-12-20T08:06:00.003-06:00

My Silhouette and I have a love/hate relationship! For some reason the calibration has never been quite right, so it doesn't cut in the place it says it should, cutting off the first part of the project, requiring me to re-do it.

Other than that, I absolutely love the personalized items I can create! I CANNOT wait to have my craft room so that I don't have to pull everything out of the closet each time I want to create something.

I dreamt these shirts up for the boys the other night and LOVE how they turned out!! (And I already have an idea for Valentine shirts!)

Personalized items are so popular right now, I may start selling some on the side!

The total project took about an hour (with all the Silhouette kinks and pulling out and putting up materials).

Font: Arial Black
Image: "Tree"
Paint: Tulip Fabric Paint- "Holiday Green Matte" & "Red Velveteen"

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-19T18:57:00.003-06:00

Now that the majority of our Christmas cards have been distributed, I can share them with you! Our photographer surprised us with these just before I was going to go online and order them. It was a great surprise!

Front:

Back:

4 Month Pregnancy Update

2011-12-18T15:55:00.003-06:00

How far along? 19 weeks (So, only a couple of days away from 5 months, but technically still 4!)

Mood: So much better! I feel pretty much back to myself, with only the occasional mood swing.

Maternity clothes? Umm, did you see the picture?!? Unless they were really loose regular clothes, I am only wearing maternity now...

Sleep: No problemo!

Energy Level: Thanksgiving and Christmas Break are giving me that extra time I need to re-charge my batteries! Thank God for my teacher schedule!

Best moments in the last month: Finding out we are getting our 3rd boy!!

Movement? The kicks are getting progressively stronger, but still are pretty faint tickles. My students can't wait until the real movements happen so they can feel too.

Cravings: Juice & Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal

Baby purchases this month: Nothing this month, and we don't really have a whole lot to purchase in the future either! :)

What I miss: Wearing contacts! My eyes stay too dry during pregnancy, so I end up wearing my glasses the majority of the time. I would also kill for a margarita!

What I am looking forward to: Christmas and New Year's!! Converting the garage into a bedroom for Deacon and Carson, so I can start getting rooms organized.

Dewberry Farm 2011

2011-12-16T19:48:00.003-06:00

I am about two months behind on this post, but better late than never...

Back in October, we took our annual trip to Dewberry Farm. They have done some really great expansion since last year, but so have the crowds! They were packed, but we all had a blast.

One of the new additions was a corn pit, which had the feel of a sandbox, but used corn kernels instead. Deacon thought it was pretty cool.

Carson was excited that James came along too!

As always, the roller slide was a hit!

...as was the Kidilla Hopper,

and zipline!

The boys really liked mining for treasures too.

Deacon wasn't really in the mood for the crowd, but was perfectly content chewing on grass.

Visiting Santa

2011-12-11T20:02:00.004-06:00

This time last year was Deacon's first picture with Santa, and looking back, one of the first indications something was wrong when no matter how hard the photographer shook those bells, Deacon wouldn't even look in the direction of the camera.

What a difference a year makes! Not only have our boys never been scared of Santa, but I had to about peel Deacon from Santa's soft suit. We were also able to capture both boys attention (and smiles) with no problem!

I hope Santa's lap (and sack of presents) is big enough for all three boys next year!

Football Party Preparations

2011-12-03T19:52:00.004-06:00

Carson's 6th birthday party is tomorrow and we are almost ready! Today I picked up his cake, which in my opinion is the most important part of the party. Like always, my girl did a fabulous job on his Texans theme football cake!

Second in importance is the invitation! We try to find unique, customized items for the invites and this year may be my very favorite! The footballs from Green Monster Promos turned out completely adorable:

I also used my amazing Silhouette to create football shirts for the boys.

I am debating redoing Carson's in red so that it matches the Texans theme...

Baby #3 Gender and Name Reveal!

2011-11-28T18:35:00.003-06:00

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, we finally had our big ultrasound today to determine the baby's sex!

As soon as the wand touched my stomach, Brian and I immediately thought we saw "something." My doctor held out saying it could have been the umbilical cord, and switched angles. This is the view we got:

HE is definitely ALL boy!!!

We feel so blessed that God has given us another of His sons to raise! (Maybe we are doing something right!) I am already envisioning Christmas excitement at our house next year with our three little men.

We are also excited to get to use all of our favorite boy names! We have decided this little guy's name will be: Bennett Asher Scott

Bennett - meaning "little blessed one"

Asher- from the bible, meaning "happiness"

And what a happy little blessing he is!

Before Thanksgiving Break, I promised all the students I would let them know immediately what the baby would be when I returned to school. I used my awesome Silhouette to create this fill-in-the-blank shirt:

And changed after my appointment. :)

3 Months w/ Baby #3

2011-11-13T21:04:00.004-06:00

How far along? 14 weeks

Mood: Hormonal!! Praying my mood swings start tapering off! (I think Brian may be too.)

Maternity clothes? Wow, they aren't kidding about showing quicker the more pregnancies you have! About all bottoms are maternity, if they aren't sweatpants. I have also added some maternity dresses and shirts too.

Sleep: It is hard getting comfortable, but once I am out, I'm good.

Energy Level: My energy is starting to come back, but I definitely need my naps on the weekend to function the rest of the week!

Best moments in the last month: Seeing our baby on the ultrasound

Movement? There have been a couple of nights at bedtime where I have wondered if I felt the baby, but no definite movements.

Cravings: Sweets, fruit, and cheese.

Baby purchases this month: I bought a gender-neutral Halloween outfit on clearance. :)

What I miss: Being even tempered! (And possibly some adult beverages)

What I am looking forward to: finding out the sex of the baby!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T13:24:00.003-06:00

The holiday season has officially been kicked off with Halloween!

Another teacher and I are Student Council Sponsors at my school, and this was our first dance of the year to host our annual costume themed "Boo Bash." I initially ordered a costume online, but when it came in, it was like every other female costume: way too hoochie, especially to wear to a school function. I decided to go for Plan B, a stolen idea from pinterest. Can you guess what we are?

Paper, Rock, Scissors! :)

Brian was super sweet to bring the boys up to the dance to get their groove on. I was afraid it might be too loud, but Deacon absolutely loved it! (Notice him behind us in the pic above.)

Carson had fun dancing and eating pizza too.

On Halloween, we passed out glow bracelets (from Michael's for only $1 for 15, plus my teacher discount of 15% off ). Deacon stayed with Brian to pass them out, while the neighbors and I took the kids trick-or-treating.

By the time we rounded the corner back to our house, Carson's bag was overflowing, so he had to take off his mask and use it to collect candy in!

He has enough candy to last him a while!

Fall Ball

2011-11-05T09:02:00.004-05:00

Carson had another fabulous season of flag football and we were fortunate to have really great coaches again! Grandma and Grandpa were awesome fans by making sure to be at every game to cheer him on!

Here are his stats for 7 games (last season comparison in parenthesis):
Rush Touchdowns- 7 (1)
2 Point Conversions- 1 (2)
Points Scored- 44 (11)
Rush Attempts- 14 (10)
Sacks- 3 (0)
Pulls- 13 (4)

11 Week Ultrasound

2011-10-30T19:16:00.004-05:00

In a few short weeks our baby went from a bundle of cells to a tiny person! Even after two other little ones, I am still amazed by God!

I grilled the ultrasound tech to see if she could give any hint to the sex of the baby, but she said it is still another week or two until you can distinguish. (Possibly tmi: At this stage all babies have something down there, its the angle that soon determines the sex. Out: girl, Up: boy) So as of now, it is still girl-like, but it may change. We find out November 28th.

Technology has already improved since Deacon! We were even able to get some 3D images this early on!

This one shows the baby curled up facing forward with its hands up by his/her face.

Closer view:

Side view:

We have narrowed down a few of our favorite names and would love your input! If you haven't voted, please do here.

Carson's 1st School Photo

2011-10-29T23:35:00.003-05:00

Don't you love the embarrassing school photos from your past, with lighting that shows every imperfection, and a photographer who doesn't wait until your ready before snapping away, or tilts your head to some awkward angle???

Well luckily, our Big C is completely adorable, regardless of where he is being photographed!

This may be the last school photo we have for a while with a mouth full of teeth, now that he is approaching 6!

IntelliGender

2011-10-23T16:39:00.004-05:00

A few stores (Walgreens, HEB, Babiesrus) sell an at-home product called IntelliGender to detect the sex of the baby as early as 10 weeks. We obviously aren't putting a lot of weight in this product, but thought it would be a fun way to pass the time until we do find out. AND it was accurate in predicting Deacon's gender.

Here's their verdict:
Have any of you used this? Was yours correct?

Jellystone Park

2011-10-23T09:08:00.007-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we had the most amazing little getaway at Jellystone Park! They hold tons of Halloween activities the entire month of October, and we have definitely found a new fall tradition! Even better, after a record breaking scorcher summer, this was the first weekend for the weather to cool off!

We arrived Friday evening, just in time for the dance.

Followed by a movie under the stars: The Adams Family

The next morning we woke up early, ready to explore!

The craft room was full of fun things to do: ceramics, coloring sheets, shirts to decorate, scavenger hunts, and guessing games.

One of my favorite places was the toddler room (right next door to the arcade), which was stocked with lots of sensory activities, perfect for any little one, but especially our Deacon or special needs children. Saying Deacon had a good time would be an understatement!

Carson's favorite hangout was the pool! They had waterslides, a large picnic basket that dumped water on the kids every few minutes, and a pool for basketball. They also had another pool by the putt-putt golf course that we didn't even have time to try.

I would have loved to try this one, but our new addition kept me on the sidelines this year:

Later in the day they had magic pumpkin seed planting! Seeds were planted, Yogi waved his magic wand over the patch and a few hours later, the pumpkins were "grown!"

Then Carson named and painted our pumpkin, Charlie.

That evening was the costume contest, trick-or-treating at the cabins/rvs, hayride, and haunted house.

Could my kids be any more adorable!?!

Like any good mom, I of course felt my kids were robbed when they didn't win...

Our next morning ended with a delicious all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast! (Followed by a perfectly timed rainstorm!)

Carson's Kindergarten

2011-10-09T16:48:00.003-05:00

Last week was Carson's Parent/Teacher Conference at school. I got to sit down with each teacher and find out how he is doing. While I waited for my turn, I snapped a few pictures of his work that was hanging in the hallway with my phone.

His homeroom/English-speaking/Reading Teacher said he has adjusted well, both academically and behaviorally. He gets along well with the kids, and she has learned the best place for him to work is next to the hard-working girls in class.
Next was his Spanish-speaking/Math Teacher. She said Carson is starting to really pick up Spanish words. ALL of the numbers and shapes they learn are taught in Spanish, so luckily math is his strong point so that he won't miss out while learning them. He has already to count to 29 and can name the triangle, rectangle, square, and circle in Spanish.
So far, he loves school! I have no trouble waking him up in the morning, and he usually passes the time on our hour drive each way by playing games on my phone.

*His best friend at school is named Savy and they play 'silverblades' (no clue) and army outside at recess.

*A little girl named Peyton told him the first week of school that he is her boyfriend whether he likes it or not. After he tried to argue a few times, he has finally given in and agreed, even though he still says that he isn't. haha

*Carson's favorite breakfast served at school is pancakes, and favorite lunch is nachos. His favorite flavor milk has a purple lid and he says it takes like ice cream.

*He is still our social butterfly, and because of this gotten a couple of conduct marks for touching other students and talking in the hallway. We have tried to balance the line of telling him that conduct marks are unacceptable, while trying not to stress him out too bad when he gets them. Last week was the first full week that he was conduct mark free!

Carson Singing Spanish

2011-10-02T20:22:00.001-05:00

Here is our adorable child singing his first Spanish song from school:

Meet Scott Baby #3

2011-10-01T22:37:00.006-05:00

Well it's official: there is a baby in my tummy! We were already able to see and hear a tiny heartbeat from that little ball of love!

I am 8 weeks pregnant, with May 10th looking like our due date! (The baby measured a little smaller than that, but the doctor said it was close enough to keep that date.) With two little winter babies already, I am excited to have some warmer weather to party plan for in the future!!

Our next appointment is October 25th, where I get another ultrasound and he/she will actually look like a baby!

Carson has already started throwing out name suggestions, and I now know another reason five year olds don't have kids of their own...the names sound like something a celebrity couple would pick:

Girl Names-
Geyser (what we yell when Deacon pees in the bathtub)
Gnarly

Boy Middle Name-
Climb-in-the-toilet (again, after Deacon)

We have a couple of names in mind, but still haven't completely decided yet.

Surprise, Surprise!!

2011-09-22T20:07:00.004-05:00

It looks like we will soon be a party of five...

We are still in a little shock from the news, but we are excited to have our first ultrasound next Tuesday when it may feel more real!

Daycare Gift

2011-09-11T21:24:00.003-05:00

Have I mentioned that we love Deacon's daycare??

They are always so friendly and really seem happy to see Deacon each morning. Even his therapists have commented in his weekly paperwork: "Teacher has been working a lot with Deacon and making sure he has extra help to participate with class. She reports that she is already seeing him show more understanding in general!" She also mentioned that she witnessed Deacon walk up to his teacher her and give her a hug!! (This is not a normal thing for Deacon who loves to snuggle, but doesn't typically initiate the contact!)

We wanted to do a little something to show all of the staff how appreciative we are for their kindness. I thought of this in the middle of the night last week when I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep! (One of the only crafty ideas I haven't "borrowed" from the internet)

We baked homemade bread (recipe here), printed a card created on picnik, and purchased some nutella spread to go in a dollar store basket.

18 Month Deacon

2011-09-10T22:44:00.019-05:00

Deacon, you are 18 months!!

You are 34.5 inches tall (97th percentile!!!), weigh 24 lbs. 11 oz. (37th percentile), and have a head circumference of 18.5 inches (31st percentile).

You wear 2T/3T shirts and 12 month shorts! We finally found shoes you will wear: 18-24 month leather soled pedipeds. That is the largest size they make, so once you outgrow those we are praying you will wear regular shoes.

You have a definite sweet tooth! You love all sugary goodies, but have grown to like most other foods too. Your fine motor skills have also grown! You are able to feed yourself almost any food with your fingers and drink from your sippy cup with no problem! We are now practicing using utensils.

You are great at using those little fingers to find every little particle on the ground and putting them in your mouth. Your favorite non-food meals are paper, mulch and grass, which we find ourselves removing from your mouth often. Yum!

Last month you started a new daycare and we are all in love! They agreed to place you in a class based on development and not age, so you started in the 12-17 month room. Within two weeks the director asked if you could be moved to the 18 month-2 year old room because you are doing so well!! You get excited every morning when we arrive and there is even a little girl in your class that makes "ah-ah" noises at you during breakfast.

You LOVE being outdoors! The only time you ever throw a temper tantrum is when we open the front door, without letting you go outside. We are thrilled that it is finally starting to cool off so that we can play in the yard more!

You also LOVE music! Your favorite toys and shows are the ones with a tune and you will sometimes even jabber along.

Climbing is probably your favorite obsession. You have a blast at Little Gym every week and have learned to be very careful when getting on and off objects. You are not picky, and will climb on ANYTHING, but climbing inside the toilet is probably your happiest hang-out.

Just like your brother, you waited until after your first birthday to start sleeping through the night. We have been well rested for a couple of months now!

We are in the process of switching your seizure medication from Topamax to Valproic Acid to help with your language skills, since one of the side effects from Topamax is a loss of word retrieval.

These past six months have been such a roller coaster, but we have been blessed beyond belief with your progress and thank God every day for you!

Fabulous photos by Carey Anne Photography

Back to Teaching

2011-09-05T21:08:00.003-05:00

This picture illustrates my transition back to work perfectly:
Luckily, the month of August is over and I am slightly rested from a three day weekend. I'm hoping this week feels a little less chaotic and I can stay chipper all day, all week! (And catch up on my blogging!)

Carson's 1st Day of School

2011-08-23T20:18:00.004-05:00

The tiny baby we held at the hospital 5 years ago started Kindergarten yesterday, and he had to be the cutest little guy in elementary (I am SO not biased...)!

Here he is with his Mario backpack:
We used my new silhouette to put his name on it in vinyl:

He posed a couple more times at the house for good measure:

His favorite new smirk to make:

I am all about sucking up to the teachers; a few extra brownie points never hurts at the start of the year!

We got the jars at Dollar Tree, baked some chocolate chip cookies, and downloaded the printable from here. It says "With you as my teacher, I'll be one smart cookie!" Carson has 2 teachers, one will teach in English half of his day, the other in only Spanish. His classmates are also a mixture of English/Spanish speaking children. By 5th grade he should be fluent in both languages. This is the only kindergarten class in our district to offer the Dual Language Program, and we are so thrilled he was accepted!

Brian met us from work with breakfast from McDonalds!

Carson was elated to finally be a "big kid" and wasn't the least bit nervous or scared. I did pretty well too, and only teared up twice the entire morning, which stopped after Brian and Carson started laughing at me!

We also saw my friend Jenny's daughters, Avery and Aubrey.

When I picked Carson up he said he had a great day!! He said his teacher was very nice and he didn't get any conduct marks. He played on the playground, cut, colored, glued, and his teacher read the class a couple of books. His very first school lunch consisted of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, oranges, and chocolate milk. (I think eating lunch in the cafeteria was his favorite part of the day) He also made a couple of friends, but hasn't learned their names, saying he needs "about 14 days to remember."

Fun Find Friday: Dinner Ideas

2011-08-19T21:19:00.004-05:00

Now that we are back to work/school, it is time to get back into nightly routines, dinner being one of those! This weeks finds are easy, one-dish dinner ideas! I haven't tried these yet, so I can't vouch for them, but they look delish!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

White Trash Casserole - loving the name!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Cajun Shrimp Casserole

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings/Chicken Pot Pie

Slow Cooker Thanksgiving

Three Cheese Pasta Bake - Cross between macaroni and fettuccine alfredo

Slow Cooker Shepherd's Pie

Fun Find Friday: Silhouette Inspirations

2011-08-12T21:14:00.004-05:00

I received a Silhouette SD for my birthday this year from Brian and the boys. I have been wanting one for a couple of years and finally found a cheap enough deal on overstock.com to justify getting it. A Silhouette is basically a printer, but instead of using ink, it has a razor to cut images. You can feed a bunch of different materials into the machine creating all kinds of cool crafts and personalized items, like vinyl, cardstock, fabric, and even temporary tattoo paper.

I have found so many fabulous ways to use my silhouette on pinterest, here are a couple of my favorites (that I am not planning to give as gifts in the near future):

Monogrammed Cooler - The font may be a little too fancy for our family, but I love the idea of adding a little bling and making an ice chest more personalized without whipping out the sharpie

Fall Wreath - While it would take forever to hand cut each individual leaf, the silhouette could spit those puppies out in a couple of seconds

Mobile - May need to find a pregnant friend to make this for!

Fabric Artwork - They hand drew and cut the birds and leaves; I am not an artist, so I would use the fabric interfacing feature cut and modgepodge

Mailbox Decor - We have neighborhood mailboxes, so I couldn't make this for us, but how gorgeous!

Pinwheel - the silhouette also cuts foldables for 3-dimensional projects!

Monogrammed Sign - I think we need this in our entrance

AHOY!

2011-08-10T21:36:00.003-05:00

Do you watch Dora? You know the theme song "Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer..."? We have changed the words to that song and replaced the name with Deacon.

Why, you might ask?

Yes, this is my child INSIDE the toilet!

And of course, I did like any good mother would do: told Carson to watch him while I ran to grab my camera! :) What makes it even more adorable is that his shirt goes with the theme perfectly! Our little Potty Pirate! lol

We have learned to keep the bathroom door closed because when we don't we are reminded of Deacon's favorite playground!

Our Testament

2011-08-10T11:45:00.007-05:00

March 29th was probably the most difficult for Brian and I when dealing with the overwhelming feeling of having no control in Deacon's future. It was our rock bottom.

It is in that time when you get to a place that you throw your hands in the air and give up doing things on your own. We finally realized that we could do all we could as Deacon's parents, but the most important thing was to give our struggles and desperation to God.

That day this verse became my mantra:
"Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Mark 11:22-24

Our pastor summarized with: Don't tell God about the mountains in your life, tell those mountains about God.

Around this time my Aunt Bonnie mailed us this book, after the family visited her church:

They wrote about their healthy daughter becoming ill and needing to have her heart removed. She was hooked up to a machine that was outside of her body and worked as a temporary heart while they waited in an out of state hospital for months for a transplant. The family was split apart, had days with poor prognosis, but continued to stay strong in their faith.

I started reading this book on April 4th, after my students finished their state testing. On April 4th Deacon stopped having seizures and we haven't seen one since. It has been 4 months!

Coincidence?? Deacon had been on the same prescription for a couple of months and had no changes in it. This was also less than a week since our "rock bottom." Believe what you will, I have no doubt this was God.

Need more proof of the miracles we have experienced:

Diagnosis: Seizures
February 17th - We were told Deacon had Infantile Spasms and a 90% chance of being mentally retarded, and high mortality rate.

March 29th - Doctors told us they were wrong after 23 hour EEG, Deacon did not have Infantile Spasms, instead Myoclonic Seizures. Myoclonic seizures had about the same prognosis, the goal being to reduce number of seizures, but complete seizure control would be difficult.

April 4th - Seizures stopped!

Diagnosis: Vision Problems
January 10th - Deacon needs glasses.
February 24th - Vision specialist told us Deacon does NOT need glasses, but that he has cortical visual impairment.

June 24th - Vision Specialist can hardly believe Deacon is the same kid! Told us all fixing, following, and visual attention had significantly improved!

Diagnosis: Developmental Delays
February 1st - Deacon qualifies for ECI services for developmental delay. At about 12 months of age, he was at the development of about a 6 month old and had regressed in some areas and platued in others. He could not feed himself, had no interaction with toys or people, language had completely disappeared.

July 20th - Deacon's re-evaluation. In six months, Deacon has had 6 months of progress! He is now developmentally at at about 12 months is drinking from a sippy cup and feeding himself, plays with toys and people, and is making sounds again!

Diagnosis: Autism
June 14th - Neurologist diagnosed Deacon with Autism.

July 12th - I haven't even shared this with y'all: DOCTOR RETRACTED AUTISM DIAGNOSIS!!! He said Deacon was much too affectionate and interactive for him to believe that Deacon had autism like previously believed.

So let me remind you of God's promise:

"God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him."

James 1:12

Scott Brothers

2011-08-06T19:39:00.004-05:00

We got our images! Here are the ones you haven't seen of our guys together. (I am using the individual ones to write their half year update soon!)

This one is my favorite b/c it is just so them!

I cannot wait until I have pictures to hang on my wall!!

Carey Anne is having an amazing special this month that I am completely jealous of: a complimentary 8x10 Wild Sorbet Frame to every client booking their session this month! These are just a couple of the gorgeous designs:

Fun Find Friday: Why Didn't I Think of That!?!

2011-08-05T19:05:00.004-05:00

All of these pinterest finds fall into the ridiculous category of smart ideas that leave you wondering how you didn't come up with something so simple yourself. As always, websites can be found by clicking the underlined link.

Lose Something - pantyhose rubberbanded to the vacuum

Sunblocker - unhook the last ring from your curtain rod and hang it on the bracket. We did this in Deacon's room and you wouldn't believe how much darker it is a naptime!

Free Bag Clips - Cut off the ends of those cheap pant coathangers that you usually throw away

Lost Camera - On the first image for your new card take a picture of your contact information so that camera can be returned. This guy had a fun way of passing his message along, click the link to see the full image

Livestock Tank Swimming Pool - how awesome!

Cupcake Lids - Keep flies out of drinks at picnics, even cuter if you can match the party theme

Baby Food Jar - When painting a room pour some excess paint into baby food jar for quick, easy touch-ups. Website has lots of other great ideas.

Power Outage - Going out of town? What if the power goes out? How will you know if the food refreezes before your return? This is a genius idea! Freeze a jar of water on its side. Stand it back up. If the power goes out, the water will melt and freeze to the bottom of the jar.

Bucket Filling - For buckets that won't fit in the sink, use dust pan

Photography Session

2011-08-02T22:05:00.003-05:00

We have been wanting to get the boys photos taken for a while, but didn't want the posed studio look. Because Deacon is hard to capture on camera I wanted to find a photographer who is really patient and could capture our guys being themselves. After mentioning this delimna with Deacon's therapists they recommended a photographer that has worked with some of their other kiddos and gotten great results.

I am beside myself on how gorgeous the pictures look and have already decided that our house is basically going to become a shrine to our children because there is no possible way I can choose only one or two to hang.

Carey Anne gave such a sweet write up about our family and posted some of her favorite images which can be checked out at careyannephotography.com. I can't wait to share the other fabulous photos she snapped!!

Holidays are just around the corner and photos always make the best gifts, so those of you who live around Houston need to get on the ball to book a shoot with her! (Her senior photos are fabulous too!)

Extreme Pantry Makeover

2011-07-31T23:02:00.010-05:00

Umm, so I can't believe I am posting the before picture of what our pantry looked like last week...all I can say is hot mess:

We moved in our house in 2006, and I swear there was stuff hidden in the back with expiration dates not long after that. It was time for a pantry renovation to happen and we found our inspiration here and here.

We started by repainting our shelves:

Brian and I experienced our first wallpaper application. It was a little intimidating, but wasn't hard, just time consuming. We found the wallpaper at Lowes for $20 and purchased two rolls, which was more than enough.

It took about 5 days total, but we are finally finished!

The wallpaper is my favorite part! I could seriously just sit and stare at the prettiness!

On to the purchases:

Bed, Bath & Beyond: $4.99 (for paper towels, plates, cups, and silverware)

Walmart: $4.87

Walmart: I think like $2 (to hold all those seasoning packets, corn starch, etc.)

This was part of a 6 piece set (including the pic below): I think $8ish

(yes, we are all about generics for our canned food)

Walmart: $5/each

Bed, Bath, & Beyond: Set for $19.99 (saw a similar set at Walmart for $15.99)

Ikea: Large jars- $4.99, Small Jars- $3.99 (the thousands of discovered boxes of Hamburger Helper are hidden behind)

Ikea: $17.99 (holds trash bags, foil, etc.)

Ikea: Metal Planter, found in garden section- $8.99 (filled with sauces, oils, etc.)

Ikea: Small Planter, also in garden section- $1.99 (Brian hung on the wall, for beverage mixes & popcorn)

Ikea: $12.99/each (one for baking supplies, the other for chips)

Bed, Bath, & Beyond: Turntable - $7.99/each

I cannot wait to use my new Silhouette to label all of the containers too!

Yes!!

2011-07-30T19:01:00.002-05:00

Deacon discovered how to mimic for the first time yesterday by nodding his head "yes"!!! We are well on our way to communication!!

(Please excuse my annoying baby talk voice):

Fun Find Friday: Teacher Edition

2011-07-29T21:15:00.011-05:00

This is the time of year teachers stop basking in the summer laziness and start planning our classrooms. Pinterest has lots of ideas for all things school, but I thought I would use this Friday to focus on getting prepared. Like last week all websites can be found by clicking the link under the image.

Monster Stamps: What is more wonderful than these?? The price! They are only $4!

Double Dot Mini Cooler: $59 for Pottery Barn, for schools that let you have them (or rebel teachers wanting to hide the contraband)

Chair Pockets: Using book covers!

Labels: These are so much cuter than the labels I have and they are free!

Bright Idea (no link): did a student give a bright idea? give them a glow bracelet

Where's your name?: A fun solution to help kids remember

Password Sign: Introduce a new vocabulary word each day (I may do weekly for junior high, since we don't have them all day), to enter or exit classroom password must be used

Beak the Clock Timer: Also comes in red and yellow for $19.99

Reminder Bracelet: Do you have kids who always forget to tell their parents something or bring back supplies (I WAS that kid)

Writing Workshop: Visual on writing progress

Smore Learning: You HAVE to check out this link! The whole classroom follows the camping theme and it is fabulous!

Book Cover Pennant: Love it!

Fly Bulletin Board: Looks a little more teenager-ish! :)

Poster Wizard: Design your own posters (you may use this to steal some ideas below)

Crafty Drawers: Scrapbook paper makes these look so much fancier!

Hanging Book Mobile: Probably wouldn't pay $72 for it...

Hungry Caterpillar Lanterns: Couldn't find an original link, but luckily I ALREADY had another pin on my "Party Planning" board with cheap lanterns: $1.95/each

Direction You Choose Poster: Free Printable

Blooms Poster: SO much prettier than the ones I have been given!

More Important to Be Nice: This would be easy to replicate!

"Book" Shelves: Brings a whole new meaning!

Read Across America: Would probably change this to display the world. Students pin where their book takes place.

Every Moment Printable: Free and a variety of colors

Believe in Yourself = Be You: FREE Printable, could send this to walgreens etc. for cheap

Count Your Blessings: Free Printable (She has other really great printables too)

Energy Art: $70 on etsy, or could make yourself for tons cheaper

Gaga Equation: For the math teachers; not all posters are elementary! I heart this! Prices start at $14.56, but would be easy to make your own

Lightbulb Rug: From Walmart starting at $31

"We Can Do Hard Things": For the kids who always say "this is hard"

File cabinet makeover: could be covered using fabric, scrapbook paper, or wrapping paper

Chalkboard wall decal: adorable for $40

Our Little Studs

2011-07-26T16:27:00.003-05:00

We had the boys photos taken last night and their wonderful photographer posted the first two photos on her facebook this afternoon. I cannot wait to see the rest!!

Fun Find Friday: Family Activities

2011-07-22T19:47:00.003-05:00

I thought I would start something new on here and see how it goes! "Fun Find Friday" is pretty self explanatory: I find cool stuff and share a category with you on Friday.

Since there are still a couple of weeks left for summer, why not kick this off with family activities to get some quality time in with the kiddos! Links to the original website can be found by clicking on the underlined title.

Frozen Fun: A treasure hunt that is a cool way to pass some time in this heat! Project could be cheap or free depending on whether you want to purchase new treasure our just dig up left over party favors from the bottom of the toy chest. Toys can be frozen into a large brick for longer play time or into individual ice cube trays for those with a shorter attention span. Would also be fun to teach science by testing different methods for melting the ice (salt, warm water, etc.).

Milk Painting: You can all do this with items from your kitchen: milk, food coloring, and "magic" toothpick (one that has been dipped in dish soap). The dish soap makes the colors shoot across the milk creating a kaleidoscope appearance!

Scratch and Sniff Painting: Another easy art project! Mix Kool-Aid and coordinating paint color for a sweet-smelling craft project!

Drive-In Movie: We may need to wait until it cools off a little for this one, or just do it in our living room. Would be really cute to get all the neighborhood kids together with a lawn full of cars!

Soap Cloud: It seems like this project could do double duty as a science/cleaning project! Put a bar of plain ivory soap in the microwave for 2 minutes and watch it grow!

Rainbow Rice Play Garden: This sensory activity would be awesome for Deacon to explore in. You could make this project last all day! The blogger said she started with the book Planting a Rainbow then mixed food coloring, alcohol and rice together and let dry in the sun. What a nice alternative to gritty sand!

Pinterest Projects

2011-07-21T23:29:00.007-05:00

You know how they say you marry your parent? Sometimes Brian scares me by how much he has in common with my dad. Mostly he reminds me of the positive attributes. Growing up my dad could fix anything, and if he couldn't he would at least give it a good try until my mom forced him to bring in a professional. He built the house I grew up in, could fix the car issues, and still believes that WD-40 can solve any problem. The smell will still bring me back to my childhood.

That's the best quality in Brian too; I love being married to a handy fella. He can fix broken appliances and build all the crazy projects I dream up. As you can imagine, he is just THRILLED that I found pinterest...hehe

The great thing is that he can't say "that won't work" because I can pull up the instructions along with photographic proof!

I started working on him slowly and just showed him a couple of my favorites. What's the point in overwhelming him with the 600+ pins I have made??

First up, rain gutter book shelves!! All the supplies (10 ft gutter, brackets, and 4 endcaps) cost somewhere around $15!

We were going to go with white gutters, but once we saw the brown ones we decided those would match better.

Step by step instructions here.

The other project we completed was hanging storage bins in our garage. We already had the bins, so we only had to purchase wood. It only cost about $10 and took Brian 20 minutes to do.

We are planning to buy more lumber to build a few more rows.

You can see the how-to here.

Fail Ms. Frizzle: The State of Our Education

2011-07-20T17:45:00.003-05:00

A friend recently shared this article with me and it really helps to show the direction government is pushing our public education. It makes me fearful not only for myself and colleagues, but mostly for my own children who will be entering this institution where standards are constantly being raised, budgets, teachers, and electives are being cut, and the fun experiences we had as children are rapidly disappearing.

Is this generation any smarter than we were, or generations prior?? No, and studies show that LESS THAN ONE-THIRD of high school graduates were prepared for college! And by prepared they don't mean "can pass a standardized test," they determine it more on basic reading and writing, social skills, financial planning and study skills. Our students also score lower when compared to other countries.

What's the solution? I have a few ideas, but this one definitely isn't it:

Article written by Marni Barron, an instructional coach in the District of Columbia Public Schools, and Leigh Dingerson is a community organizer and writer on public education reform. (I shortened the article a little to give you the gist, you can read the full article here.)

"Recently, we were reflecting on the portrayal of teachers on screen these days. There’s the animated “dance of the lemons,” and Michelle Rhee’s teaching bashing in “Waiting for Superman.” Now comes Cameron Diaz in “The Bad Teacher.” What happened to the teacher as guide? Or the teacher as inspiration? What happened to Ms. Frizzle?

You remember Ms. Frizzle. She was the uber-elementary science teacher of the public television series “The Magic School Bus .” The show was first broadcast in 1994, based on the books by Joanna Cole. Miss Frizzle is famous for [her] amazing field trips through the extraordinary power of the Magic School Bus, they shrink to size, and take off on educational adventures.

We remember watching episodes of The Magic School Bus with our children, hoping that our toddlers would someday have teachers as dynamic, quirky, creative and flamboyant as Ms. Frizzle. But it seems like today’s teachers are getting all the Ms. Frizzle drilled out of them, both on-screen and off.

Which got us thinking about teacher evaluations and how, like everything else, what you get depends on what you measure.

We both live in Washington, D.C. The recently ended school year marked the second under the District of Columbia’s new evaluation system, called IMPACT. Just last week, the District announced that 206 teachers have been fired for flunking IMPACT this year.

IMPACT was launched in the fall of 2009 by former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and was immediately lauded as a model for the rest of the nation. While much of the focus and reporting on IMPACT has been on its use of test scores—so-called Value Added Measures—to judge teacher effectiveness, the majority of teachers in DC are not subject to the Value Added components of IMPACT. They teach in grade levels or subject areas that are not tested (yet). For these teachers, 50% of their evaluation is dependent on two, thirty-minute unannounced observations conducted by “Master Educators.” Three additional observations are conducted by the school’s principal.

What are these evaluators looking for? What counts? IMPACT established a “Teaching and Learning Framework” —essentially a checklist of nine teaching practice areas that each teacher is expected to demonstrate during the course of their 30-minute, surprise evaluation. Within each practice area, there are a set of specific skills that must be demonstrated to qualify for an “effective” grade, and additional skills that must be present for the teacher to be considered “highly effective.” In all, to receive a perfect score on their observation, teachers must demonstrate over 60 strategies and skills over the course of 30 minutes.

Marni is an instructional coach in a DC elementary school. As we discussed teachers in the media, and DC’s Teaching and Learning Framework, she reflected that her role used to be helping teachers become better educators. Under IMPACT, her job is now defined as helping teachers pass their IMPACT observations. We thought about the effect of that change on teachers. And we thought of Ms.Frizzle.

Rating Miss Frizzle

Could Ms. Frizzle teach in D.C.? How would she fare on IMPACT?

We decided to find out, by conducting two formal observations using IMPACT’s nine-point rubric.

Observation 1:

Our observation found “the Frizz” herding her students on to the Magic School Bus for a trip into the solar system. As her students traveled from Mercury to Jupiter to Saturn to Neptune, Ms. Frizzle allowed them to see, feel, and learn. They determined the gas, oxygen, hydrogen and water levels of each planet they visited. They collected rocks, and analyzed their composition. They worked collaboratively, sharing their knowledge with each other. At one point, the students gently prodded one disengaged student to rejoin the learning experience. Ms. Frizzle helped guide the students—at one point by becoming “lost” herself, and forcing her students to figure out which planet she was on based on scientific clues. They found her.

It was quite a lesson. But IMPACT’s rubric gave no credit to Ms. Frizzle for the experiential and self-guided nature of this exploration to the solar system. She failed to announce an objective for the lesson at the beginning. She did not provide “scaffolded” prompts, or link their learning that day to previous lessons. While she had allowed her students to experience the solar system through a variety of senses and learning styles, she missed several requirements on the IMPACT checklist.

Score:
Under IMPACT, a teacher must be evaluated based on the strict rubric. Ms. Frizzle scored only a 2.2 during our first observation. She was “minimally effective.” No matter that her students had had the experience of a lifetime, and demonstrated extensive knowledge of the subject matter at hand. Under IMPACT a teacher could literally take her students to the moon and still be minimally effective. We decided to give her another chance.

Observation 2:
The next time we randomly popped in on Ms. Frizzle, she had planned an extraordinary lesson on asteroids. For this, her students were required to intercept and re-direct an asteroid that was hurtling towards Earth, threatening a direct impact on the elementary school where she taught. The students launched into space, where they encountered several extraterrestrial objects (a comet, space junk). How could they determine whether each was the ominous asteroid? The kids realized they needed to analyze the object’s composition, trajectory and speed. When they finally found the asteroid, they figured out that it was made of iron and therefore could be thrown off its course by a magnet. Mission accomplished!

Ms. Frizzle had prepared well for the lesson, having all of the appropriate equipment available on the bus for the student’s discovery process and eventual success. She did better on this evaluation. But she still fell short of “highly effective.” For example, the Frizz did not ask the students any questions. Rather, she provided them with opportunities to determine the relevant questions and then answer them themselves. This sinks her on IMPACT.

Score:
The overall average of our dear teacher’s two scores was 2.6—barely into the “effective” range. If we were to conduct three more IMPACT evaluations for a total of 5 (the number of times DCPS teachers are formally observed each year), the outcome for Ms. Frizzle could be dicey. If she were to drop to even a 2.59, she would be considered minimally effective, and subject to dismissal like so many teachers were, just last week.

Something’s Wrong Here

A teacher who is able to create a learning environment that is student-led and teacher facilitated is considered a master of their craft by the education community. But not by DC’s IMPACT rubric.

Of course, Ms. Frizzle is fictional, and her extraordinary field trips aren’t really possible in today’s under-resourced classrooms. But our little exercise of conducting formal IMPACT observations of Ms. Frizzle helped identify a troubling aspect of DCPS’ teacher evaluation system. It’s not that the Teaching and Learning Framework is a bad thing. Particularly for new teachers, having a framework on good practices (stating objectives, checking with students for comprehensive throughout the lesson, etc.) is critical. In a strong professional growth system, teachers would not only be given such a framework, but would also be given carefully constructed supports and extensive professional development in the areas where they seemed to be struggling (IMPACT provides only rudimentary feedback from Master Educators, and little real professional support).

But for creative and dynamic teachers like Ms. Frizzle, the IMPACT rubric is a death-knell. Teachers in D.C. now, according to several we have talked to, are changing their practice to conform to IMPACT’s checklist. Their salaries and their jobs depend on it. Some are tossing out their most creative lesson plans, knowing that if a Master Educator walked in on such a lesson, their job could be put at risk. We’re forcing some of our best teachers to be less creative, to dumb-down their practice…or even to leave the classroom altogether. And yes, some of the city’s dynamic and popular teachers have been fired because their lessons didn’t adhere to the IMPACT rubric.

Evaluation systems should be part of a building process—building great and creative and effective teachers. They shouldn’t be designed with the inflexibility of a mousetrap. “Snap! Gotcha!”

We hope that our children will have teachers with the breadth of skills identified on the IMPACT checklist. But we also hope that our kids will be in classrooms with the many Ms. Frizzles of Washington, D.C.— those teachers who don’t just talk about the planets, but take their students to them. Without revisions, and without recognition that sometimes great teaching doesn’t conform to a checklist, we worry that Miss Frizzle, and teachers like her, may be getting thrown under the bus.

Femme Fatale??

2011-07-18T16:37:00.005-05:00

There aren't many concerts that I MUST attend, but Britney Spears is one. If you remember here, she can put on a concert of a lifetime! But maybe that is the problem, her best concert days might just be over...

I almost didn't go to her recent concert because my Britney Spears concert buddy, Tracey, would be out of town when she was here performing. Then Groupon had tickets for half off, only $25/each, so I went ahead and bought tickets before inviting my friend Ashley, who deserves a break after recently having twins! Luckily, she has a wonderful husband and was able to come.

We stopped at Staples first to get their last day of penny sale items, ate dinner downtown, and still arrived with enough time to get some freebies from the local radio stations and buy a concert shirt. These events were much more exciting than the "main event."

We ran into our coworker, Justin!

Free Big Red

Our seats

Since I purchase our seats on sale, I knew they wouldn't be fabulous. We were on the next from the top row, but could still see the stage pretty well.

Notice everyone SITTING!?!

Britney

I was slightly disappointed by the concert. I thought maybe it was just an off night, or that we didn't have great seats, so when I got home I googled reviews. The majority reflected what I was thinking:

Britney just didn't seem like herself. She spent the majority of the concert sitting on some type of prop, walking the stage, posing, or tossing her hair. I go to her concert knowing she will be lip-synching throughout because she is performing, but if she doesn't even do that, then what is the point? Even worse, she slowed the tempo of the majority of her dance hits, making them awkward to sing along or dance to. By the middle of the concert our entire section and the ones around us were sitting.

Disappointing.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

2011-07-14T22:45:00.003-05:00

Here is another yummy, easy, [carb-filled] recipe made from scratch. It makes your house smell fantastic and is the only thing I can say that I make better than my mom! :)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cups whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. Set aside.

In large bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

Make a well in the center of the flour bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Houston's Best Kept Secret!!

2011-07-12T23:32:00.009-05:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE finding new things to do with the boys, and with it being over 100 degrees for like the past two months here in Houston, indoor activities are about the only way to go! I am so surprised that I have never heard of this place before!

Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Sugarland has a two-story (not 2 levels, 2 stories) indoor playground that is open Sunday-Friday for FREE!! Most days the playground is open from 8-5. Even better, they have free wi-fi and a cafe sporting Chick-fil-a and Starbucks from 7:30am-3:00pm. I saw moms hanging out sipping coffee together, women doing scrapbooking, and some working on their computers.

A friend told me about it last week, and it just so happened Deacon had a neurologist appointment nearby today. We got there around 3:00 today and there was barely anyone there! I wish we would have known about it sooner b/c we would have been spending just about every day there this summer.

I tried to take as many photos to capture what it looks like, but with the boys having so much fun I took lots more of them; especially of Deacon who grinned ear-to-ear the entire time and is usually so hard to take pictures of!

This slide is so tall the ceiling got in the way of the photo!

A favorite pic of the day, my two cutie booties!

Toddler Area- Deacon played there for like 5 minutes and was ready to move to the big kid area!

Love those boys!

Cheesin' it!

Another HUGE slide!

This is his favorite day EVER! :)

Fighting the jungle

See why I couldn't put the camera down??

Swinging bags

Hopping in the Alligator Pit

Deacon loved licking the netting...yuck!

Deacon looks so big here!

My little monkey

I have other great things to share from today, but will have to update later...