Today (after getting Carter's hair cut), we went to Missy's house for a playdate. A friend of hers who nannies for a pair of boys also came over. Here's a picture of all the boys before lunch.
Monday, November 28, 2011
We're Home!
We got back yesterday from Raleigh where we spent Thanksgiving. I have lots of pictures to post but am trying to unpack and catch up on things we need to do with the new house and apartment. Hopefully I'll have a post finished tomorrow.
Today (after getting Carter's hair cut), we went to Missy's house for a playdate. A friend of hers who nannies for a pair of boys also came over. Here's a picture of all the boys before lunch.
Today (after getting Carter's hair cut), we went to Missy's house for a playdate. A friend of hers who nannies for a pair of boys also came over. Here's a picture of all the boys before lunch.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Garage Leak
We don't use our garage much. We have some things stored in there like our kayaks and bikes, some of the kids' outdoor toys, our boxes for moving, and strollers. Usually we only go in there a few times a week to change out strollers.
I had used the vacuum down there yesterday to clean something and left it down there. I went down his morning to get it and discovered we had some pretty big leaks in the ceiling. They are along two of the drywall seams. I'm so glad a went down there this morning!
Not that I love that our strollers got wet, but the puddle was a mere two inches away from our dozens of moving boxes.
The double BOB got the worst of it with puddles in the seats ...
And a puddle in the basket ...
Even though we are supposed to continue to get rain on and off through tomorrow, the maintenance guy wasn't too concerned. He seemed to think that the leak was at the flashing on our porch. However, it's not wet there so I doubt it. He told me he'd have someone out to look at it today or tomorrow, then let it dry out, and fix and paint the ceiling. To me, the drywall looks like it may fall down if we get too much more rain and that piece of drywall is pretty damaged (it's bowed in the center and one edge is almost an inch lower than the piece it meets up with). Hopefully I don't here a big crash soon!
I had used the vacuum down there yesterday to clean something and left it down there. I went down his morning to get it and discovered we had some pretty big leaks in the ceiling. They are along two of the drywall seams. I'm so glad a went down there this morning!
Not that I love that our strollers got wet, but the puddle was a mere two inches away from our dozens of moving boxes.
The double BOB got the worst of it with puddles in the seats ...
And a puddle in the basket ...
Even though we are supposed to continue to get rain on and off through tomorrow, the maintenance guy wasn't too concerned. He seemed to think that the leak was at the flashing on our porch. However, it's not wet there so I doubt it. He told me he'd have someone out to look at it today or tomorrow, then let it dry out, and fix and paint the ceiling. To me, the drywall looks like it may fall down if we get too much more rain and that piece of drywall is pretty damaged (it's bowed in the center and one edge is almost an inch lower than the piece it meets up with). Hopefully I don't here a big crash soon!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Whistlestop Weekend
Last weekend the Adventure Science Center had Whistlestop Weekend where they had several model trains and you could control some of them or parts of the displays. I took the kids on Friday and luckily it wasn't too crowded.
One exhibit showed all the different sizes of model trains. The kids got to push a button for each train to make it move around the track.
There was a snowy scene and the kids got to control the trains as well as ice skaters, sledders, and more.
"Look Rylan!"
This was one of the larger displays ...
After viewing the trains, we went through the rest of the museum. Rylan is looking so old!
"Here's a fish, mom!"
We spent a lot of time running around the solar system area ...
Lot's of fun!
One exhibit showed all the different sizes of model trains. The kids got to push a button for each train to make it move around the track.
There was a snowy scene and the kids got to control the trains as well as ice skaters, sledders, and more.
"Look Rylan!"
This was one of the larger displays ...
After viewing the trains, we went through the rest of the museum. Rylan is looking so old!
"Here's a fish, mom!"
We spent a lot of time running around the solar system area ...
Lot's of fun!
House Update
The house is starting to look much more complete after this past week. Appliances, lights, bathroom faucets, tile, showers, the kitchen counters, electrical outlets, cable outlets, and more were installed this week. Also, there was a lot of exterior painting completed and the HVAC was installed outside.
I am loving the kitchen. So far I really like how all our choices are coming together.
Tile was installed around the fireplace ...
This is the master bath ...
The kids' bathroom has a tiled shower ...
The front door and porch were painted ...
I really like how the ceiling of the porch looks ...
Since our closing date of December 23rd is only about a month away, we've been looking at refrigerators all week. Lowe's had some really awesome sales this week so we went ahead and purchased a Samsung french door refrigerator. It was 40% off and then we had a coupon for another 10% off.
I'm not sure what is being done this week other than the first coat is going on the hardwood tomorrow. The builder has been calling us on Tuesdays the last couple of weeks to give us updates so hopefully we'll find out in a couple of days.
I am loving the kitchen. So far I really like how all our choices are coming together.
Tile was installed around the fireplace ...
This is the master bath ...
The kids' bathroom has a tiled shower ...
The front door and porch were painted ...
I really like how the ceiling of the porch looks ...
Since our closing date of December 23rd is only about a month away, we've been looking at refrigerators all week. Lowe's had some really awesome sales this week so we went ahead and purchased a Samsung french door refrigerator. It was 40% off and then we had a coupon for another 10% off.
I'm not sure what is being done this week other than the first coat is going on the hardwood tomorrow. The builder has been calling us on Tuesdays the last couple of weeks to give us updates so hopefully we'll find out in a couple of days.
Christmas Card Pictures
Over the last couple of weeks, I've taken the boys over to Crockett Park 3 or 4 times to try to get a good Christmas card picture. Life is going to get crazy here with the holidays, Christmas activities, and moving (we have a close date - December 23rd), so I wanted to go ahead and get our card done.
It is not easy to get a 1 1/2 year old and barely 3 year old to both look at the camera and smile at the same time (especially when their are leaves to play with and trees to run around). Also, when I'm taking his picture, Rylan has this funny smile where he squishes his face up and says "cheese". I finally have a photo I'm happy enough with.
Here are some of the pictures that didn't make the cut but at least one kid is still cute in.
Rylan had a little belly chub hanging out in this one!
It is not easy to get a 1 1/2 year old and barely 3 year old to both look at the camera and smile at the same time (especially when their are leaves to play with and trees to run around). Also, when I'm taking his picture, Rylan has this funny smile where he squishes his face up and says "cheese". I finally have a photo I'm happy enough with.
Here are some of the pictures that didn't make the cut but at least one kid is still cute in.
Rylan had a little belly chub hanging out in this one!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Little Indian
Carter's class had a Thanksgiving feast today for lunch. We all signed up for and brought in food instead packing lunches for the kids.
We also had to bring in a pillow case so they could make this ...
When I picked Carter up, he was one of two kids still wearing his Indian costume. The teachers said he didn't want to take his off all day. The kids also make paper turkeys and had a parade where they walked around to other classrooms and sang songs. I really love his school!
We also had to bring in a pillow case so they could make this ...
When I picked Carter up, he was one of two kids still wearing his Indian costume. The teachers said he didn't want to take his off all day. The kids also make paper turkeys and had a parade where they walked around to other classrooms and sang songs. I really love his school!
Child Find Screening
A few weeks ago one of Carter's Parents' Day Out teachers recommended that we have Carter's speech evaluated through Child Find. She said that they were often having trouble understanding him and that he seemed to be getting frustrated sometimes.
Child Find is the program in Williamson County that identifies children that are having difficulties in hearing, vision, speech, language, social skills, thinking skills, moving and using muscles, and self help. It's run through the school system and is free for participants.
I have always thought that Carter may qualify for some speech therapy but we hadn't done anything yet because the program doesn't start until age 3 and requires a teacher's or pediatrician's recommendation.
Carter had his screening yesterday afternoon at an elementary school. I was a little nervous about Carter being shy or grumpy since the screening was during his naptime, but I told him we were going to a school to play some games and he was super excited. I brought Rylan along but luckily he was content playing with the toys in the classroom. There were three evaluators. One asked me questions mostly about Carter's social skills. The other two evaluators had Carter count objects, put things in groups, identify objects, and lots of other things that I didn't really get to observe since I was answering questions and trying to keep an eye on Rylan. At the initial screening, all areas of development are evaluated and then if anything is low, the child will get another evaluation in that area by a specialist.
Carter scored average or above on everything except for speech and language. He was still in the normal range for language but didn't get credit for a lot of things because of his speech. The evaluators recommended that Carter get a second, more thorough evaluation for speech. Their concerns were that he often deletes the middle and/or end consonants of words and that he sometimes substitutes an "h" sound in the middle of words. They also commented that some words and connected speech was unintelligible.
None of this was shocking to me. I know that he only says the first part of many words and that he can't say several sounds. Carter can't even really pronounce his name. It sounds more like "ca-gar". He gets really excited when a dj says Lady Gaga on the radio because he thinks they are saying his name! I felt like it took Carter longer than most of the other kids his age to start saying more than just a handful of words. His vocabulary has really exploded over the last several months but it's often difficult for people other than Brian and me to understand a lot of what he says.
I'm looking forward to having Carter's speech evaluated further and getting him some assistance if he qualifies.
Child Find is the program in Williamson County that identifies children that are having difficulties in hearing, vision, speech, language, social skills, thinking skills, moving and using muscles, and self help. It's run through the school system and is free for participants.
I have always thought that Carter may qualify for some speech therapy but we hadn't done anything yet because the program doesn't start until age 3 and requires a teacher's or pediatrician's recommendation.
Carter had his screening yesterday afternoon at an elementary school. I was a little nervous about Carter being shy or grumpy since the screening was during his naptime, but I told him we were going to a school to play some games and he was super excited. I brought Rylan along but luckily he was content playing with the toys in the classroom. There were three evaluators. One asked me questions mostly about Carter's social skills. The other two evaluators had Carter count objects, put things in groups, identify objects, and lots of other things that I didn't really get to observe since I was answering questions and trying to keep an eye on Rylan. At the initial screening, all areas of development are evaluated and then if anything is low, the child will get another evaluation in that area by a specialist.
Carter scored average or above on everything except for speech and language. He was still in the normal range for language but didn't get credit for a lot of things because of his speech. The evaluators recommended that Carter get a second, more thorough evaluation for speech. Their concerns were that he often deletes the middle and/or end consonants of words and that he sometimes substitutes an "h" sound in the middle of words. They also commented that some words and connected speech was unintelligible.
None of this was shocking to me. I know that he only says the first part of many words and that he can't say several sounds. Carter can't even really pronounce his name. It sounds more like "ca-gar". He gets really excited when a dj says Lady Gaga on the radio because he thinks they are saying his name! I felt like it took Carter longer than most of the other kids his age to start saying more than just a handful of words. His vocabulary has really exploded over the last several months but it's often difficult for people other than Brian and me to understand a lot of what he says.
I'm looking forward to having Carter's speech evaluated further and getting him some assistance if he qualifies.
Three-Year-Old Checkup
Carter had his three-year-old checkup yesterday.
He saw the same pediatrician that Rylan saw for his 15 month appointment. Again, I didn't love the doctor so we are going to try someone else in the same office. The pediatrician is really pushy about a few things (such as eating dinner together, even though that's not always possible with Brian's work schedule, and that Carter should already be potty trained) and I can deal with that. But the things that I was concerned with, such as Carter's speech, he brushed off. Basically he seemed to only be concerned with the few things he feels are important and not much else.
Otherwise, the checkup went fine. Nothing came up in the physical exam and Carter's measurements were:
Carter wasn't looking forward to his appointment. He kept telling me he didn't want to get a checkup. I think he thought he had to get shots. Luckily he didn't need any! He did have a little fear of the pediatrician at first and whimpered a little but he got over it after a minute or so.
He saw the same pediatrician that Rylan saw for his 15 month appointment. Again, I didn't love the doctor so we are going to try someone else in the same office. The pediatrician is really pushy about a few things (such as eating dinner together, even though that's not always possible with Brian's work schedule, and that Carter should already be potty trained) and I can deal with that. But the things that I was concerned with, such as Carter's speech, he brushed off. Basically he seemed to only be concerned with the few things he feels are important and not much else.
Otherwise, the checkup went fine. Nothing came up in the physical exam and Carter's measurements were:
- Weight: 31 lbs, 0 oz (50th percentile)
- Height: 36.5 inches (25th percentile)
- Weight: 25 lbs, 14 oz (25th percentile)
- Height: 33.5 inches (30th percentile)
Carter wasn't looking forward to his appointment. He kept telling me he didn't want to get a checkup. I think he thought he had to get shots. Luckily he didn't need any! He did have a little fear of the pediatrician at first and whimpered a little but he got over it after a minute or so.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
House Update
Losing Daylight Savings Time has made it really difficult to see the house during the week. It's almost completely dark by 5 pm and if I drive over there around 5 trying to catch the last bit of daylight, the workers are still there.
Tonight we stopped by around 6:30 pm with flashlights to see what we could see.
Our garage doors have been installed ...
All the bathrooms and the laundry room had been tiled ...
Bathroom counter tops had been installed ...
The shower in the guest bathroom had been installed but we couldn't see in the other two full baths because doors were closed and we couldn't open them because of either tape across the doorway or tile that hadn't set yet.
We went by on Sunday a couple of times to see what had been done last week. The first time we were there, the painters were there. But later in the afternoon, we were able to get into the house.
All the interior painting had been completed. I like the color we chose for the walls. It looks really similar to the color we picked for our last house.
The roll-outs in the base kitchen cabinets had been moved up. They left the half shelves in the cabinets and mounted the roll-outs above them. They removed the roll-outs from the bottom of the cabinets so there are holes now in them. Hopefully they come back through and fill in the holes so they look a little better.
Our front porch now has a ceiling, columns, and steps ...
The crawlspace got lined with plastic and all the piping was insulated ...
And we got gutters and downspouts installed ...
Brian had a voicemail from the builder today updating him on the schedule. The tile, showers, and countertops (including the granite in the kitchen) should be completed tomorrow. The HVAC, electrical, and plumbing trim will be installed on Thursday and Friday. And the first coat on the hardwood floors should be applied on Monday.
Tonight we stopped by around 6:30 pm with flashlights to see what we could see.
Our garage doors have been installed ...
All the bathrooms and the laundry room had been tiled ...
Bathroom counter tops had been installed ...
The shower in the guest bathroom had been installed but we couldn't see in the other two full baths because doors were closed and we couldn't open them because of either tape across the doorway or tile that hadn't set yet.
We went by on Sunday a couple of times to see what had been done last week. The first time we were there, the painters were there. But later in the afternoon, we were able to get into the house.
All the interior painting had been completed. I like the color we chose for the walls. It looks really similar to the color we picked for our last house.
The roll-outs in the base kitchen cabinets had been moved up. They left the half shelves in the cabinets and mounted the roll-outs above them. They removed the roll-outs from the bottom of the cabinets so there are holes now in them. Hopefully they come back through and fill in the holes so they look a little better.
Our front porch now has a ceiling, columns, and steps ...
The crawlspace got lined with plastic and all the piping was insulated ...
And we got gutters and downspouts installed ...
Brian had a voicemail from the builder today updating him on the schedule. The tile, showers, and countertops (including the granite in the kitchen) should be completed tomorrow. The HVAC, electrical, and plumbing trim will be installed on Thursday and Friday. And the first coat on the hardwood floors should be applied on Monday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)