Okay, things have been kind of slow around here lately, yeah! We were actually planning on going to Oklahoma to visit Kevin's grandma for Spring Break, but she ended up ill, so we are staying home and vacationing. It has actually been really fun, and we have taken time to do alot of things that we don't feel like we usually have the time to do or things that are on more our "special" list. I think the best thing has just been slowing down with the kids and really just hanging out with each other, playing games, eating slow, and no agenda. We did make it to the St. Patrick's Day Parade with temperatures in the 80's. It's been a while since I have done a parade. In fact, I don't think I have done one since before Kate was born? I can't remember, but the kids loved it and we made it a family event, having lunch with my brother first and watching the parade with Mima, friends, and cousins. Yeah for vacation!!!

(Oh, and my grandmother's sister is also staying with her for 2 weeks, so things are nice and slow for me in that department. She is doing really well helping my grandmother and following along her usual routine. My grandmother is doing ok having her around, though sometimes I'm sure it's a little sad to remind her of how things used to be, and tiring for her to be on "hosting" mode, but it's working out overall.)

Firetrucks (loud) and Horses!

What more can you ask for?

A little outback style?

Always a smile

Cooling off before the parade


Uncle David and little boy

I love William. He is such a big help around the house, even when he gets distracted. :) He has such a sweet heart, and I miss spending more time with him now that he is in his second year of school. He is a wonderful son, and I don't tell him enough.

So, Thank you William! For all that you do.

Okay, now to finish up my post.

KATE's BIRTHDAY!!!

Kate turned 3 last month, and it took us forever to finally get her birthday party done. I guess I should back up and say, that I had been thinking and planning about what to do for her birthday since January. I made Kevin sit and talk with me for over an hour and try to solve the birthday party conundrum that we are lucky to have. We are very lucky to have both sides of our families in the same town, so thus, we end up with not 1 or even 2, but sometimes 4 birthday parties for our children! I was sure there must be some way to pare it down to 1 or 2, but alas, we are only able to get down to 3 (1 party with mom/dad and mom's family, another party with dad's family, and finally a friend party...)! I am also still organizing and unpacking and I couldn't imagine what she was going to do with a bunch of new toys. While short on girl toys at first, after Christmas and her family birthday party this year, I couldn't imagine what she would even need or where I wanted to put it... Oh, and actually there are 2 other little friends that have birthdays a day and a few weeks from Kate that we are always trying to watch out for when having parties. (We usually end up inviting a lot of the same people anyway.) :)

SO, after her birthday had gone and past by a few weeks, and the party favors and pink plates, forks, and napkins that we had so much fun picking out were still sitting on top of the fridge, I finally got it together enough to give our friends a heads up on Sunday, and then called everyone the night before to come to her party the next afternoon. :) Thankfully, almost everyone was able to make it. AND, since I was kind of concerned about the whole getting a million presents thing, we decided to take a page from a friend's un-birthday party at the end of last year. For Kate's party, we asked everyone to bring something from home, they already had, that someone might like for a gift (surely, I couldn't be the only one whose house was overflowing with extra toys from time to time), and then we drew numbers and had a gift exchange (with NO stealing...). It turned out to be a lot of fun, and everyone went home with a little gift. I also stole another page from a friend's party earlier in the year, and just let them play, have some cake, and then open presents. Very simple, yet fun and just the right amount of time for the younger crowd. Overall, it turned out to be a really nice party (thank you everyone for coming). I think it will be something that we will repeat with many birthdays to come.

A lovely, pink cake baked only a hour or so before... :)

Lots of friends, and a little family

One of the best things ever, living in the same neighborhood as cuz!

Oh, and a couple other things ----- Nathan finally broke his first tooth yesterday! (Grandpa wins for noticing! We really had no idea.) :) He also tried his first table food (mashed potatoes), but wasn't really thrilled with it. Probably because he had to use his fingers...

I couldn't decide which one to choose, so here they both are!

AND, FINALLY ----- Grandma's paperwork got turned in! I have been working with an attorney to arrange medicaid support for my grandmother in helping to cover the cost of her Alzheimer's care, and it is the BIGGEST paperwork headache in the world (even for the lawyer). I have also had to spend hours on the phone talking with case managers, supervisors, transferring case managers, and making sure that she is receiving the care that she needs. If you can believe it, the first case manager that came to her home and interviewed us (as well as one of her caregivers) came up with a total of 8 hours of assistance for my grandmother! Currently, we have arranged support for her almost 70 hours a week. It was a combination of a really poor case manager (or her having a rough spot in her personal life right now) and the fact that we cannot answer questions completely in front of my grandmother. (We always try to avoid any type of embarrassment or upsetting her by obviously pointing out things that she can and cannot do on her own anymore.) Physically, my grandmother's health is very fair, but we have really started noticing that her memory in daily living activities is really slipping. She still knows who we are, and can laugh and smile with the kids, but she is getting worse. There are so many things that we take for granted that she cannot remember anymore. Just a normal morning or night routine, brushing hair, teeth, knowing if we have done things or not. I actually had to sit down and spend a hour or two writing out a daily schedule for my grandma, so that her caregivers can monitor the completion of those activities. It actually reminded me of when I first had William (and even when Kate came along), and that anytime I would drop him off at someone's house, I had a childcare sheet that had a whole schedule of when and what he would eat, and even included how he liked to fall asleep. (Poor Nathan, no more sheets...) :) But, it was very similar.

ANYWAY, it has been quite a deal. I remember speaking with the supervisor of all the case managers of Douglas county as well as a couple other counties, and as she was talking to me (NO ONE would have been able to make it through this conversation!!!) she insinuated that my grandmother should be put into a nursing home and asked what do I or my mom do!!! Luckily, I was VERY patient and VERY nicely explained everything to her, even stroking her ego a bit. I was willing to give her and another case manager a chance before going above her head and really raising a ruckus. I was still shocked about some of her comments, and she was VERY lucky that it was me on the phone, and that she hadn't had any extra chances yet! Oh, and when I told her about some of my grandmother's medications involving eye drops and 10 minutes with a washcloth on her eyes, she said well that would take about 30 seconds for eye drops and 60 seconds for the washcloth. Ummmm, wait she has Alzheimer's. If someone puts a washcloth on her face and then walks out of the room, she will NOT KNOW why she has a washcloth on her face or how long 10 minutes is. REALLY! (Medicaid only pays for time people are actually ASSISTING, which is fine, but please think through how something really has to be done when someone has Alzheimer's...) Well, thank goodness our new case manager is top-notch and really knows her stuff. She is also an older lady herself (60's) and had been a nursing home administrator for 21 years. (I specifically asked for someone with Alzheimer's experience.) She has already been 100 times better than the previous one, and we have yet to meet in person. Oh, and she really cares about us.

Sorry for the superlong post, but like I said so much has happened and MUCH has been accompli shed. :)

Sorry it has taken me a while to get back here, but much has happened and much has been accomplished!

First of all, Nathan is standing all by himself... He is not yet crusing around, but he has really good balance and can even eat while he is standing. He seems so little to be up and about like that, but deep down I know it won't be long before he is walking, I just don' want to admit it. After all, he may be my last little boy and I wish he would slow down on the growing up. I have always loved my chilren, but after being a mom for 6 years, I have really learned how to cherish them and each moment. (BTW, he is also still really, really cute.)

Kate had her first hair cut! I think it will take about 10 years for Kate's hair to actually grow long, but we finally decided it was time to have it trimmed because it really just started looking messy. (You really know it looks messy when Daddy is the one who points it out...) So, we took her to Uncle David for her first haircut! I kind of wondered how she would do, and we talked about it beforehand how she might get her hair wet, she will need to sit still, and that uncle david would use scissors to trim the ends. In fact, I worried a tiny bit because William is very dramatic about having hair fall on his neck during and after a hair cut. BUT, I should have known. Kate is a girly girl, and she just sat there nice and tall, head up, and just let david do everything without so much as a bother. In fact, she looked like it was a perfectly normal everyday occurence, and that it was only right. :) Her hair lays much better now, and while it will take years for her hair to get long, her curls are beautiful.

Just an everyday thing...

After

Okay, what else... Well, I'll get back to you... kiddos are having a tough time following the rules and getting along while I am typing. :) I usually do this after they are fast asleep. Now I remember why...