Life! Need I say more?

Where to begin...

Last Friday we went to the Doctor and got the OFFICIAL diagnosis for Alex. I already knew what it was, but needed the diagnosis in order to get the help for him at school. If you are wondering, it is ADHD. What I was not expecting was that the Doctor suggested that he should be on the same diet that Max is on. The Gluten Free/Casein Free diet. So, Sunday was our first full day of it. I am so thankful that I am already prepared for this diet. I already have done the research and am aware of the foods that do or do not work for it. That is a blessing. It is going well so far.

I have learned a little more about ADHD and it is fascinating.

Colin has been having a really hard time lately. He doesn't want to listen. He argues with me and Todd daily. He is getting a lot of time-outs too. So, after much thought and prayer I brought this to Todd's attention. I feel that he was acting out because he is in need of our attention. With preschool in the afternoons he is not getting much one-on-one time. Todd and I talked in detail about this. I felt that it was time to pull Colin out of preschool. Here are my reasons:

We need more one-on-one time with Colin

Children aren't required to attend preschool

I began taking him to preschool with the idea that if for any reason Colin was not happy we could pull him out.

I hate driving him! But would deal with it if necessary.

Now that Alyssa is almost 5 months old I have more time available to spend with him. At first it was really hard to make time for him because Alyssa required so much time, as most newborns do.

At first Todd was not on board but after hearing my reasons he agreed. I called on Tuesday and told them he would no longer be attending preschool. My only disappointment is that we love the people there and now we won't see them. But he will see a lot of MOM!!!

Today I had to do the budget, which takes a long, long, long time! So, I committed myself to getting it done and to taking breaks for Colin and Alyssa. It took me ALL DAY to complete it, BUT...
we played together,
tickled and giggled together,
took a walk...well Colin ran and I tried to keep up,
Colin rode his bike,
I took cute pictures,
and we just enjoyed each other.

TJ has been very helpful lately. He came out to help me bring the groceries in from the car all on his own.

Max is doing great. He goes to school without a problem lately and he is doing so great on his work. I had been bribing him and now he understands. For instance, I have not told him this week that he would get a reward for doing well at school. I did that all of last week. Last week I told him if he did well all week I would order some of his fish sticks. At the end of the week, because he did so well, he expected me to have his fish sticks. I had ordered them but they didn't come in until Saturday. What I didn't know was that when you order something they do not carry you have to buy the whole case. AAH! So, $64 later we have a dozen boxes of gf/cf fish sticks in the freezer!! He had his treat on Saturday evening. Today he came home and told me how wonderful he did on his work and asked if he could have his fish sticks. He is SOO smart! I laughed and told him he had to wait until the end of the week. If he does well all week then he can have them on Friday. You can't pull one over on him! But he sure can pull one over on you!

We will begin reading the Island of the Blue Dolphins as a family tonight. It is the book we are doing for Book Club through our Relief Society enrichment groups. TJ is excited! He LOVES to read good books.

Todd is feeling a little better after coming home from Michigan with a sinus infection and a raging ear infection. He still has a ringing sort of noise in his ear and is having a hard time hearing sometimes. I am sure he will be back to normal soon!