Cars at Preschool

Nicholas loves preschool. Every minute of it. But if I had to guess, I would say that choice time is his favorite time of the day. When his teacher asks him what he would like to play during choice time, he almost always says, "Cars & blocks!" (Sometimes he says house, but that's a story for a different day). Today, his OT, teacher, and I were super duper impressed with his arm movement while rolling his race car on the blocks (see videos above). I absolutely love that I can be with Nicholas during the school day to see all his triumphs and accomplishments. He is the sweetest little soul and watching him enjoy his environment and his lovely little friends makes my heart swell with pride and my eyes brim with tears. Everyday is a gift, a blessing, a miracle, and the fact that our son gets to attend preschool and do lots of other "normal" things makes me one very thankful mother. 

Ella Roo Turned TWO!

Our sweet baby girl (who is not much of a baby anymore) turned two on Saturday, September 15th!!!

A few days before her birthday, Grandma Stephanie came over to visit and gave her an early birthday gift.

 She really likes her light-up unicorn.

 On Saturday morning my mom and I took Ella to Target to pick out some toys for her birthday. She really liked this popcorn push toy, but it got really annoying after several minutes so we encouraged her to pick out some other less loud, obnoxious toys. She ended up with a Mrs. Potato Head, a pop up animal toy, and lots of cute clothes.

 Later Saturday evening we had a small party for our girl. 

 It was a very simple birthday compared to her first one, but just as much fun!

 She loved opening all her gifts and playing with her friends.

 Nicholas was happy watching and he even got some gifts from Grandpa Randy who was in town from Arizona.

 We bought Ella a delicious fudge cookie cheesecake and she was able to blow out her candle after a couple of tries. 

 Later that evening, we had a fire and enjoyed sitting and chatting with family. 

Kris & Jami got our shoe lover this cute piggy bank. It says shoe fund on the side and Ella loves putting coins in it and shaking it to hear it rattle. 

Our little girl has changed so much in one year. Last year at this time, she was just learning to walk and now she can run super fast. Last year at this time she was still learning how to successfully get food into her mouth and now she feeds herself with ease. She still makes a mess, but uses utensils with no trouble. She loves being outside, loves to swim, loves shoes, loves to color, loves to say "hi" to absolutely everyone she meets, loves to run, loves to laugh, loves to sleep cuddled between mommy & daddy, loves to play with balloons, loves toys that make music, and most of all she loves her family, especially her big brother. 

We are so blessed to have our spunky monkey in this family of four and can't wait to see what is in store this next year for our Ella Roo. We love you to the moon and back, sweetheart!! Happy 2nd birthday!

A Wedding, Kids, and Fish

 Last Saturday, Jeff went to our good friends' wedding solo because Nicholas was still phlemy and coughing quite a bit. He needed to be suctioned regularly and, therefore, we simply could not leave him in the care of a baby-sitter. The groom, Ben, is one of Jeff's close friends and because Jeff had a small role at the ceremony, he went. But, he was good about texting me photos throughout the evening so I could feel like I was there. 

 Nicholas started feeling a lot better on Sunday and his coughing is less and less, thank goodness. 

 Last Friday Jeff went on an ocean fishing trip with a group of people from his work as a team-building event. He caught a big sea bass and we enjoyed it for dinner last night. 

 This little rascal has started sneaking out of her room at night and climbing in bed with us. We love her dearly, but we also love our sleep, and having a wiggly toddler squished between her mommy and daddy on a queen size mattress is not our idea of a good night's sleep. Last night instead of climbing into our bed, she made her way to the sofa at some point and fell asleep there. Jeff discovered her at 6:00 a.m. when he left for work. We aren't quite sure what to do as this has never been an issue before. Since we changed her crib to a toddler bed several weeks ago, she seems to no longer want to sleep in her room. Any suggestions from experienced parents would be greatly appreciated!!

Friday Photo Dump

I seriously cannot believe this child will be two in eight days. Craziness!

 Jeff had been begging for some "good" doughnuts. I finally gave in and bought him a dozen. Mmmm...they were divine!

 Yesterday morning Ella awoke at 5:30 a.m. (which is very unusual for our 8:00 a.m. riser) and promptly fell asleep on our morning walk. 

 Last night I made a delicious veggie lasagna with fresh garden vegetables. A favorite summer treat!

Now that Washington state sells liquor in grocery stores, I have been trying some new alcoholic beverages. Skinny Girl is by far one of my favorites for both taste and calories. 

Our main bathroom is finally starting to look more complete. Jeff hung these shelves on Wednesday and I added some display items. 

 Today the kiddos and I took another walk. I pushed them in the double stroller for about 40 minutes and started to notice that Nicholas was coughing a little bit and his normally talkative self was very quiet. I looked at him and he started to cough more and cry a little bit, and because we were very close to home, I chose to run home (rather than take all his equipment out on the street) and cough/suction him. I got a bunch of junk out of his upper airway and let him rest on his bi-pap for a couple hours. His sats didn't drop too much and he didn't require oxygen, thank goodness. 

A friend mentioned he may have hard a difficult time breathing with the wildfires in the Gorge blowing smoke our way. I hope that the smoke was the only factor and not that he is starting to get a cold or illness. We are upping his treatments anyway and keeping our fingers crossed that he stays healthy. This afternoon he came off bi-pap, kept good oxygen and heart rate levels, and was his happy little self smiling, playing, and talking. 

If you are the praying type, please say a little prayer that he continues to feel good so he can continue to go to preschool and stay out of the hospital this year. 

Off to Preschool

Last Tuesday Nicholas started preschool!! This is technically his second year of preschool, although most of last year he only Skyped into his classroom. This year he will be going to school two days a week and I accompany him as his nurse. Hopefully we will be able to train a nurse/aide in the near future because I am running out of childcare options for Ella. 

He was so excited to greet the morning and head off to school!

 Sitting sweetly at circle time

 He loves his teacher, Miss Wendy. He has a very small class this year. There are only five students, including him.

He really loved this book and kept asking, "What's that?" on every page. I think working on listening skills is a must this year ;)

 At choice time he wanted to play blocks and trucks with all the other boys...

 his speech therapist, Miss Pat, gave him choices.

 At the end of the day, his OT, Miss Pam helped him shake a maraca to a groovy beat.

 It was a wonderful first day back to school and it set the tone for a great year!

Labor Day Weekend

My super-fun weekend started on Thursday evening when I met up with a couple of my best girls at our small town hole-in-the-wall dive bar. We ended up closing the place down after a great night filled with laughter, karaoke, and the best chili cheese fries on the planet. 

 Friday afternoon when I was watering the patio plants I found this adorable tiny tree frog. I took Nicholas outside to see it and he was mesmerized. 

 Friday night Jeff and I went on another date. We met up with a group of friends in Gresham and ate yummy tacos and played volleyball on the sand court. It was a lot of fun!

 Saturday evening our neighbor friends came over and we sat in the backyard around the fire pit chatting and laughing and admired the bright blue moon that only appears every two-three years. 

 Sunday we spent the day out on the Columbia River with friends and family. It was a beautifully sunny day and we played beach volleyball, roasted wienies around a campfire, played Frisbee, swam in the river, and wakeboarded. 

 Ella is the river queen. She gravitates toward the water the entire time we are on Ackerman Island. Jeff and I took turns swimming with her and she loved every minute of it!

We ended our Labor Day weekend with dinner at my folks' place-yummy food and great conversation.

 Tomorrow morning our sweet boy will start preschool. It makes me super emotional just thinking about him being old enough for school. Not to mention that this is one milestone we never knew if we would see come to fruition. Technically, Nicholas attended preschool last year, but he only physically went into his classroom one day a week the last eight weeks of school. The first part of the year he Skyped into the classroom and his therapists came to our house. This year we are starting off slowly. He will attend school two days a week and I will accompany him. After Christmas break he will ease into going full-time (four days a week) and I will cease going with him when his nurse/aide is properly trained. However, I am sure when that happens, I will end up sitting on the bench outside of his classroom every day anyway!

Nicholas is most excited to show off his shiny, new backpack. He reeeeaally wanted one last year, but since he only went to school a total of eight days, I told him we would get him one this school year. When he saw it, his eyes lit up and he said, "Cool backpack." I just love our sweet boy so much and am so excited to accompany him as he meets new friends, learns new songs, and enjoys every minute of his school day.