Ben:
As the school year winds down, Ben has been grading papers and getting all the end of the year "crap" done for his classes. To be honest, I don't even know what that all entails, but I know it keeps him busy. He is also a Negotiator for his Union so that keeps him on the go some evenings during the week as well. He gets done with school May 22nd and will begin his labor job for Zavoral's again May 26th.
Last Thursday Ben had his wisdom teeth removed. I have never seen Ben under the influence of any type of drug or anesthesia so I was pretty excited to see what he would do or say. After the surgery I got him in the car and while we were driving home he asked me 3 times if he made it out of surgery alright. I kept telling him "yes" and on the third time I said "Yes, you are alive!" Then he says "Oh, I thought we were in Heaven and you were driving me to go meet God." I laughed pretty hard over that one. He also said (while he was still pretty high) "This was fun, we should do this more often." But now that his mouth/head/jaw are sore I don't think he wants to do it anymore. When I got him home I gave him a pain pill right away (per the instruction sheet) and he said "Is this a sleeping pill? Are you trying to put me to sleep permanantly?" I had to get back to the office in the afternoon so my dad spent the rest of the day with Ben. It was nice of him to do that, just to be able to refreeze the ice packs and help him into the bathroom, etc. Overall things are fine. Ben is pretty tough. Here is a pre-surgery photo:
Peter:
Peter is happy, as usual. We have gotten him PEE trained in the potty but not really POOPY trained yet. He wakes up dry after naps but at night he wears Pull-Ups and still wakes up pretty soaked. He has pooped on the potty around half a dozen times in the past 3 months but it doesn't happen often. He gets rewarded big if he poops on the potty -- He gets to watch one episode of Spongebob (his latest obsession). When he wakes up dry from naps he gets a fruit snack. Overall we are very proud of his progress!
He currently attends Little Miracles PT & Daycare Center in Grand Forks but in a couple weeks from now he will transfer to Little Miracles East which is the same program, just in East Grand Forks. And it's so close that we can see it from our driveway! It will be a relief to have him so close by. Right now Ben drops him off and picks him up because he is way out by the interstate which Ben has to travel to get to work...but once he starts at Zavoral's again, I will only have to drive down the street to drop Peter off. Woo hoo! I am nervous about the transition because Peter doesn't take change that well but he has gotten a lot better so I'm sure he will adjust just fine. We will go an tour there a few times with him so that he can see his new surroundings and get introduced to the new kids he will be playing with. The East location has a much bigger outdoor play area so that is perfect timing since the weather is getting so much nicer. Peter is almost 4 years old! I can hardly believe it. His birthday is on Memorial Day this year -- following a whole ton of graduation celebrations that we will be attending. We are just going to BBQ and go to the park. He LOVES the park since it's across the street. He likes to sit on the couch and look out the window and say "I want to see MY park." It's cute. Ben and I bought him a Leapster for his birthday. We know he will LOVE it. It will also be a great tool for his ABA therapy.
A few weekends back we took Peter to the Shrine Circus. He was pretty scared of all the loud noises. He sat in the fetal position with his hands over his ears a lot but he didn't want to leave. Overall he enjoyed the experience but just didn't like the cannonball noises and the ringmaster's loud voice. The noises are so unpredictable and that's the part he struggles with. Here is a photo I took with my cellphone.
The ladies that do the trapeze and all the other weird swinging activities all came out in these super skimpy outfits (smaller than I've ever seen anyways) but they started out with silky capes over their bodies. They swung their arms around and Peter thought they were butterflies. So when he got the chance to get his face painted during intermission, he wanted a butterfly on his cheek. It was pretty funny. Here is another picture from my phone:
Janelle:
Well here is my routine -- wake up at 5am, in the office by 7am, work until 3pm with lunch at my desk, leave work and go straight to softball practice (or game) get home about 7pm (or later some days), see Peter for an hour, pack for the next day, go to sleep by 9pm -- REPEAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. My boss here at work, Ben, my parents & Carrie have been SO supportive in my coaching endeavor. There is no possible way I could do it without them. (So here's your shout-out, guys!) Both the JV & Varsity Softball team have 9 wins and 1 loss. They have the potential to go really far this year. It has been such a great experience. I truly love every minute of it and it's worth the crazy schedule so far...maybe not every year of my life, but for now anyways. :D
That's about all we have for now...I will do my best to keep you all posted in the weeks ahead.
HAPPY SPRING! FINALLY!!
