Burrr....

Its official. Summer as we know it, is OVER. Booo!! Today it is 41 degrees in town, windy and the hail/rain is falling. We are all bundled up, inside and out!

I don't know if you can see it... This was taken from the Fred Meyer parking lot, but there is snow on the mountains just above us. Not very far from us. Look out! Winter is coming, and FAST!

And Lucy and I are inside today watching this...

"Bampa!!!"

These are a little late... but a couple weeks ago My parents came to visit! It was so nice to have them around. I miss them so much! We had good food, Great conversations, and lots of laughs.

We went out to My Grandpa and Grandma Matson's Grave, and put some flowers on it.

A tradition when the 3 sisters are all together.

There is never a dull moment when they are together!

Mom, Aunt Suzie, Aunt Nina, and Sydney (cousin's daughter)

Mom and Dad, it was so great to see you guys! We miss you!

Sign Language?

Tell me what you think.

Lucy had her Speech therapy evaluation today. And Brandy (the ST) said she may not be quite at the level to qualify. She is about 4 months behind on her words, but only 2 months behind on communication. She put it in percentage for us. normal is between 35% and 65% She guessed that Lucy was like 16%-20%. But in order to qualify for their program she would have to be below 7%. But She also said that because of her condition they might make an exception. So they are all going to meet (OT, ST, and PT) on Thursday to make the decision. (we meet with her Physical Therapist on Thursday for an evaluation). So We are praying that she makes it. But Brandy gave us some tips on how to start with her. Use simpler words. And start teaching her some signs. Now, my worry with signing was always, well if she knows how to sign, why would she ever learn how to talk? But Brandy explained that she has been doing this for 11 years and she teaches Signing to all of her patients. And she has never had one prefer signing over speaking verbally. She said make sure that every time you use a sign also say the word at the same time, as well as give her the object or do the thing that you are signing. That way they will learn everything at the same time. Makes perfect sense to me. She used the example: Toddlers are always using their hands for playing, holding things, carrying things, etc. So if they want something eventually they are going to use their words vocally instead of signing, because they would rather hold onto that object for fear of losing it? Make sense?

Anyway. So since my very best friend, Michelle Chapin is fluent, she is more than willing to Skype with Tyler and I and teach us a few simple signs to teach Lucy. After being so against this, I am very excited now! I have been looking up videos on youtube of babies younger than Lucy signing and it is AMAZING! She can do this. Piece of cake!! And I'll do anything to stop the "EH!" and the fits... ugh. She is getting ridiculous! She knows quite a few words, but this will hopefully make it easier for both of us to communicate. Ah..

And even if she doesn't qualify, Brandy said she would come out at least two more times to teach us and give us some pointers on how to communicate better with her. Tonight at dinner we were working on "more" and "milk" she did pretty well!

Anyway, if anyone has tips, or thoughts on this, I would love to hear your comments. Thanks!!

New Glasses

So they are finally done. Now I can see! You never know how truly blind you are until you can really see... haha. Anyway. I like them. And Tyler Loves them. So I guess thats good, since he's the one who has to see me in them all the time. :)

Tutu

MOM!!

Please! I know she will kill me one day for this! But It was just sooo dang cute! And I blurred the important parts! haha.

If you dont have anything nice to say... dont say anything at all.

(ps... we are just trying it out, not serious about the training yet)

Look Mom, NO FEET!

So when I was a little Tyke like Lucy, My mom would cut the feet out of my Pjs to make them last longer. I remember seeing pictures. Tonight I told lucy to go into her room and bring me some Pjs. She walked out with the ones that were in the DI pile because they are too small. Well she refused to go get another pair and threw a fit. She wanted these specific ones! So I got the scissors and cut the feet out of them. And then I had to take pictures! I couldn't believe how much she reminded me of me. Mom.. if you can find the picture from Christmas with me in those yellow PJs with the feet cut out... let me know!

So cute!

Hair cut

Before

After

I am very happy with my hair now! I can actually wear it down. And hopefully I wont have to have it cut again for a while, so I can grow it out :)

If you are not a Grandparent....

then you probably will get bored with this video....

What did you do on Labor Day??

We Played!!!

Just ignore all of the loud people, aka... kids.

Football Mama

You guessed it! Football season has officially started. This is the time of year that I hate, because I don't see my husband till its over. But this year i decided it might be better if I try and learn what the game is all about. Instead of me being jealous that he loves football more than me, I could join him... and watch the games with him, and maybe my whole outlook on the sport will be different. So we watched the first UW game together! And I didn't have a bad time! i actually enjoyed watching it, plus I got to spend time with my wonderful husband doing something that he loves to do! So I am a football wife now....

Complete with snack foods galore!!
And I had to show you the onion rings we made last night. They were scrumptious! (Much better than the last ones!)

Lu Lu, what have you been up to?

Ok. So It has been a while since I have done a Lucy update. Well pretty much the whole blog is about her... but we haven't really discussed her stats.

We will be going to her Peds on the 16 or the 17th, I don't remember right now. So, there we will learn her actual weight and hight, head circ... all that stuff. But lets talk about the fun stuff. She has really grown a ton since we started her meds almost 3 months ago! I can't believe what a different little girl we have. And she seems to be handling them pretty well. She is tired a lot, but wont really sleep during the day. But she does sleep 12-13 hours a night. Yes... You read right! I have a great sleeper! We still try everyday for the hour nap during the day, but most days she just screams through the hour. But... I need that hour, lol! Hopefully she will get it one day.

WORDS:

Well, for most kids her age are saying a lot more than she is, but she is learning pretty quickly. She mostly uses the syllables for the words that I am saying. She is really good at mimicking. but She does say, Dada, Mom, Grandpa, Yumm, Thank You (syllable), Please, Nana (banana), Yucky, Poop, Diaper, doggy (syllable) uh-oh, ball, and when she hears the train she yells "choo, choo!!" Sometimes I can get her to say "Love you" and I think thats it. She is also good at giving kisses, and blowing kisses.

BODY PARTS:

She knows where her eyes, nose, hair, teeth, ears, hands, toes, knees, elbows, belly, and boobies are. (Tyler taught her the last one)

WALKING: well she is now walking probably 95 % of the time. and she is getting faster at it too. I guess her muscles are starting to get stronger. She still isn't standing up straight, I think we are going to have to do Physical Therapy to stretch out her joints. They are still very tight. Considering that they were completely contracted for 7 months straight, never stretched or relaxed. But with time she will get better and better! I am so proud of her! I had no idea that she would come this far in this short amount of time. She is learning things so quickly. She is learning how to do what we say... much better at listening. She enjoys being outside, Playing ball, being tickled, and tickling others, going for walks, (on her own, or in stroller) She likes puppies, kitties, and babies. She loves to snuggle her doggy that Uncle Doug gave her, sleeps with him every night.

FOOD: Bananas (nanas), cheerios, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, grapes, blueberries, Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, Hamburgers, Mac 'n' cheese, fruit snacks, BBQ chicken (LOVES that stuff!) Scrambled eggs with cheese and Katchup, Baked beans, Corn, Peas, there's probably more, but she is a good eater most of the time! Her absolute favorite treat are those wedding mints, ya know the ones that melt in your mouth? I can get them in bulk at Winco here. She LOVES them!! They are great for when we are out and about to keep her distracted.

Last time she weighed in at 21.3 lbs, 32 1/2 inches tall. Still not gaining much weight, but now she is starting to walk more.. so I don't know if that is the reason?

Anyways... that's the Lucy News. Stay tuned for more to come in October, they want to take her off her pain medication. and in Nov when she turns 2 they are wanting to put her on another injection drug called embrel. More on that later. Thanks for reading! Thanks for the prayers and support too! We love you all!!!

We learned New Tricks!

She also knows how to go get us a diaper from in her room, and bring it back to us, so we can change her. So smart!

Pretty Sunsets and a Beautiful girl

We get to watch the sunset out our kitchen window every night! I love it. We have the perfect apartment right now. I am grateful for Pocatello and the many opportunities we have here.

FYI, this guy in this picture is the greatest! Him and his wife are in our Ward. I LOVE them!
I thought I would post a new video of Our lucy walking. She is making great progress. Slowly but surely! I admire her persistance!

Chillin with Dad.

Uncle Shane visits!

Shane tried to convince Lucy that it was nap time.

It was more successful for Uncle Shane than for her :)