Christmas morning...

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a wonderful day. We missed seeing our family, but we did have a very relaxing day and the kids were great. Santa hit a home run this year. :)

Not much news, but I just wanted to share our Christmas morning pictures. Enjoy...

Ian helping Will empty Will's stocking. Will wanted to play with everything so convincing him to open the next box was difficult. He was the last one finished.

Miss Laney and her baby. She pushed the stroller all day. Every now and then she stopped to feed the baby a bottle and she did help change the baby's diaper once as well. Its official--we have a girl in the house!

Papa giving Delaney a little help.Will's rocket ship. I couldn't get him to stand still for a picture so this was the only shot I got that wasn't blurry.

3-2-1 BLAST OFF!

Ian's castle. We all had fun playing with this today! Especially with the addition of dragons and "bad guys". Thank you O'Connors and Whites!

Ian and his giant penguin that he has named Sammy. Sammy stuck by Ian all day and even helped build a lego truck. He's a smart (and dexterous) penguin.

Everyone busy playing. We could hardly convince them to take a break to open the presents under the tree!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays. We have a fun week ahead with Mike at home. We'll be busy with lots of things to do, but all for fun. The next week is going to fly by and then...2011. Another big year for us with the arrival of a new little one.

On that note, we had another ultrasound this last week (the baby just didn't cooperate for listening to the heartbeat) and we have another wiggly little person on the way. The doctor never even saw the heartbeat, but the baby was SO active she said she wasn't worried. It is always fun to see a picture of the progress especially now that I could see feet and hands. Amazing every time! We have a new doctor since my other doctor retired. I was very sad, but this is someone we met during my pregnancy with Ian. She would have delivered him if he hadn't been so relucant to show up! Anyway, I officially like her since she saved (my) Christmas with some anti-nausea medication. It has been such a relief to feel decent for the last few days...not to mention actually enjoy some Christmas cookies! :) :)

And that is all the happenings here. Wishing all the parents out there a few extra minutes of sleep tonight. If you are anything like us, you need it! :) Merry Christmas!

Will's performance

Will performing "ballet". This is not staged...he does this full "show" all the time so I finally caught it on camera. Usually the ballet, ballet, ballet part is more in depth, but cameras always throw things off. :)

Video translation: "Welcome to the show. Ballet, ballet, ballet. Thank you, you are very (un)kind."

Kicking off the Holidays!

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I am a bit late in getting to this, but the whole family came down with colds following a busy weekend of eating and family and shopping. We crammed a whole lot of Christmas into the days after Thanksgiving as well. We decorated the house, put up the tree and Ian and I went to the Nutcracker. It is officially Christmas at our house. The elf on the shelf has arrived and the boys are on their best behavior...sort of.

Enjoy the pictures of our weekend!


A break in the wrestling to smile for Mom.


Ian and Laney Beth playing in Laney's favorite chair. She loves to climb in and out and her brothers usually jump in with her.


Ian and Nana and their snowman cake. Ian loves to make cakes!

All dressed to go shopping on Friday and dancing to Christmas music while they wait! Dance parties in Laney's room are popular at our house. A family picture in front of Seattle's Christmas tree.Another family pic on the carousel. This is a tradition for us although this is the first time we all got to ride it. Laney was so excited to get on the horse until it started moving. She did NOT like it until Mike jumped on with her. The boys thought it was great!
Waiting for the tree lighting. The kids were a bit impatient through the half hour show that came first. They did enjoy the crowd singing jingle bells though. It was a long wait, but worth it!The tree lighting with fireworks! It was a great show!
After a long day of shopping and fireworks, matching Christmas pajamas were in order of course.

Finding our tree...

Me and the kids and our tree.

Mike doing the honors...

The boys watching the tree come down. Enjoying some cocoa and hot cider after the tree hunt.

The tree at home, decorated and getting the final touches. Ian remembers everything this year and did not forget that the tree topper is HIS job!


Ian and Mama on our date night to the Nutcracker. He had a great time and it held his attention! His favorite part was the battle--no surprises there! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Victory! and some much needed sleep!

So, for those of you who don't yet know, which is hard to believe since we're shouting it from the rooftops, the school district agreed to move Will to AM preschool! They told us at a Wednesday meeting and he started the next day. He has now been attending in the morning for a week and taking regular naps in the afternoon. In addition, the sleep specialist started him on melatonin treatments. We have now had 4 nights in a row of sleeping until 6am! Don't call it a comeback (and how do I share this information while also preventing a jinx?)!

At first we could not tell any difference with the melatonin, but the nap PLUS the melatonin has been life altering. A week ago, a good night for Will was sleeping until 4:45am. Most nights he was up (FOR GOOD) between 3:45am and 4:30am. This was not a stage. It started in July of 2009 and had been getting gradually worse over the summer. Then, with the start of pm school and napping irregularly it just became a nightmare. Not only was he up at 4am, but he was wired and ready to go (i.e. ready to wake up his brother and sister). In addition to the early waking, Will would fall asleep on the bus ride home and be virtually impossible to wake. So, needless to say, we are ecstatic with our 4 days of success. I have seen such an improvement in his behavior as well. He is less likely to zone out in front of the TV, plays actively, but less manically. All in all, it is evident how sleep deprived he has been. Hopefully, we will get his body back into the "right" habits and then be able to wean him off the melatonin. I would love to look back someday and call it a phase! :)

Happy Halloween!

We had a good Halloween. The boys both had parties at school on Friday morning and then on Friday afternoon we went up to Mike's office for their annual kids party. Tonight we took the kids to our old neighborhood for some trick-or-treating and they had a great time. William was happy to tell everyone "Happy Haboweeeeen" and Ian is very excited about his loot. I think I'll be doling out treats until Christmas!

Still have a camera on the fritz, but we managed to get a couple of pics. Enjoy! Hope everyone had a great night!

A bit blurry...The Ninja, SuperWhy and a Lady Bug.

Boys on the go....hard to get them to slow down for a picture!

Sleepy Laney Bug...she was so good!

Bowling Party

Ian had a great time at his birthday party. Unfortunately our camera is not working and even when you think you've taken a picture it doesn't always save them. So, these were the best I could do with my cell phone. Most of my pictures were blurry...

Anyway, the kids seemed to have a great time. We had a nice (quick) party. The kids each bowled one game and we had pizza and cake (no picture of the cake even).

So, enjoy the few pictures...

Ian and his goodie bags. He was very proud of these since he helped to pick out the goodies and put them all together.


Ian and Mike getting ready to take a turn. We were very glad that all the parents stuck around. We had some first time bowlers that needed a little guidance!

Ian's friend Logan watching the action.

Ian's best buddies Luke and Christopher.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Can't believe this little guy is five. It feels like a milestone...no longer a baby. Happy Birthday Ian. We love you!

We are having a fun day around here. As is our birthday tradition, we went out to breakfast and now he's home playing with new toys. He even has the day off school!


I will post tomorrow with the birthday party pictures.

The Sleep Study

William had his sleep study last night. We checked in about 6:30pm and this picture was taken at about 8:30pm. The first couple of hours were a bit trying. William did NOT want anything attached to him and didn't even want the technician to draw the marks on his head (they use a wax crayon to mark were each electrode will attach). We finally had to just let him fall asleep and then attach everything afterwards. Everything you see in this picture was done after he was asleep. Once he is out, he is out for good. He did occasionally wake up and pull at the nasal cannula, but we were able to calm him down and he would drift back to sleep.



I'm hoping that they got good information. He fell asleep at 7:30pm and was completely hooked up by 8:30pm. He woke up at 5:40am (late for him!) and they told me they need at least 9 hours so we hit that mark. I'm just so glad that he pretty much stayed asleep all night. I was so worried that he would wake up around 3 and want out! I guess at one point he pulled some things out and the technician came in and fixed it and I never even woke up! Will isn't the only one who is sleep deprived around here.



As for other William updates, he is doing pretty well. His PT is still working on balance issues and he is continuing to work on mastering a good jump. We now see some sporadic jumping from two feet, but he can't always do it. Lately his speech has been hit or miss. We had an episode of stuttering that has already improved and the speech therapist is currently assessing his articulation and whether he might benefit from speech therapy again. His vocabulary is still good for his age and he is very talkative and animated. He is a pretty entertaining kid!


Last night's study was also a full EEG (hence the extra wires) so he will now have had 3 EEG's since June. The first two were abnormal and this 3rd will give us some insight into the possibility of seizure activity during his sleep transitions. Because we've only actually seen the one episode, it is unlikely that Will is having seizures all night. On the other hand, we did see a spike (epileptical form) that indicates a risk of seizure during his second EEG. The spike occurred when he was in a transition between awake and asleep and that is what lead to this third EEG. Will's neurologist is fairly conservative and despite his abnormal EEGs, plans on waiting to medicate William until we have actually seen a second seizure episode. Obviously we all hope that doesn't happen. Many healthy kids/people can have a random unexplained seizure without ever having another so we hope that is the case with Will as well.



We are also hoping that this sleep study might give us enough ammo to get him moved to the morning preschool class (and get back to an afternoon nap), but after meeting some other parents from his class, we now know that we aren't the only ones fighting the system! We are pretty sure that the school district has no intention of changing their minds. In the mean time, he likes school and apparently has a new friend named Sophie. As for the long term...we will see. We know that the lack of sleep is causing him problems (poor balance, perhaps speech deterioration, falls asleep eating) so we'll have to decide whether we're comfortable leaving him in the pm program for the entire year. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine pulling him out of therapies and specialized instruction. It will be a hard decision.

On the whole, Will is doing well. He is such a happy, animated kid. We have our typical 3 year old moments, but for the most part you can't get this guy down. He is a constant blessing and reminds us always to relax a bit and laugh. You can't help but laugh if he is anywhere nearby! :)

Salmon Days!

Salmon Days is one of our favorite local festivals around here. Probably because it is about two blocks from our house and we can essentially survive off of fair food for two days!

It really is great though and people come from all over the area so we feel pretty lucky that we can just walk down the street and not spend time looking for parking or riding shuttles.

Salmon Days celebrates the return of the salmon to lay their eggs in their home streams (or hatchery as the case may be) and the stream by our house is full of these HUGE fish swimming upstream. Due to an unruly camera, this was the best picture of the salmon that actually saved (I had some great ones). There are about 7 or 8 fish here although the splashing makes it hard to see.

Every year I'm amazed to see this. You can stand on the bridge and watch the fish fight their way up stream. Inside the hatchery you can watch them jump up the fish ladder. I took the kids earlier this week to get a chance to look without the crowds. Ian was pretty interested this year and told Mike he really needed to go and look because "the fish are really jumping at this time of year". "Our" stream is home to Sockeye (a few hundred), Coho and Chinook (thousands) Salmon. It is one more thing we love about Issaquah.

Salmon Days is kicked off by a parade. The kids loved the marching bands and Sammy the Salmon. Will thought the fire trucks were pretty cool and even Laney was entertained. Ian said his favorite part was the boy scouts...even though they didn't "do" anything.

Ian getting a better view. There is nothing like watching a parade on your dad's shoulders.
This is the main street in downtown Issaquah. Issaquah is a suburb of Seattle now (about 15-20 minute drive), but it used to stand alone and still has a very cute downtown area. We live about two blocks from the downtown and we enjoy that we can walk to the library and restaurants and a great market. It sits down in a valley and is surrounded by the "Issaquah Alps". :)
A nearby park where they held all the kids activities. This is a better shot of the hills in the area.

Ian's first time riding a horse. He LOVED it. Our horse's name was Nana which we thought was pretty funny!

This is how Will spent most of the day. He made it through the parade and lunch, but he spent the afternoon asleep in the stroller. Poor guy has no idea that he missed a bouncy house and a pony ride...maybe next year!

The kids at home

Just wanted to post some recent pictures of the kids. The boys are enjoying school and Laney is getting a bit closer to walking every day. Not much news from our house. We are getting ready for Ian's birthday (he is counting the days) and his bowling alley birthday party. William will have his sleep study next Tuesday (October 5) so he and I will be spending a "night out" next week. :) Otherwise just business as usual.


Laney loves this wagon and is either in it or pushing it. Usually she is in it! :)


He is just getting so big...he looks like a little boy instead of a big toddler. He acts like a teenager. :)

She LOVES her brothers. I love how she's giggling at him!
Just Will. Not quite sure what to do with himself when Ian is at school.
"Hello?". One of Laney's words. She is signing, "please", "thank you", "more", "hat", and "doggy" and making up a few of her own. She is saying, "hello", "ball", "Silas" (she adores him), "socks", "shoes" and "peekaboo" (sort of). That is Ian's friend, Ana, in the background.
Peekabo0!Asleep in his PB and J. Not an uncommon lunchtime problem (hence the sleep study). At least this time he actually put his head down. Sometimes he's asleep mid-bite!
We'll update with the birthday pics and news from Will's study and anything else fascinating that comes along. :)

Picture Day!

We had the kids pictures taken today. I'm never totally satisfied, but it is REALLY hard to get a good picture of all three kids when they're this little (at least that is what I'm telling myself). Laney Beth had no interest in sitting still. Oh well, there are some cute ones of her (one year pix) and some amusing ones of them all together. Enjoy!

http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/PR3/Orderpage.aspx?pi=YH0N074X000000&po=0&pc=20

The Oregon Trail...Yaquina Head Lighthouse (Part 3 and Final)

This is the final installment about our trip through Oregon. It only took me a month to get it all up (which is about how long my computer takes to upload these pictures).


Yaquina head was the final stop on our trip. We spent a couple of hours here on the beach and around the light house. Every part of the coast is unique and this was no different. This beach had no sand, just perfectly smooth rocks (quite big actually). There was also a lot of driftwood, and a sign declaring driftwood to be the only "legal" thing to remove from the beach. Of course this meant Ian had to spend forever scouring the beach for the perfect piece. He decided on one that was about the size of a small tree (seriously, a whole log), but we talked him in to a pocket size piece to take home.


The lighthouse here is still working. You can go up inside, but Will was too short to climb the stairs and they don't allow children to be carried which means one person would have been stuck at the bottom with both William and Delaney. We opted to stay on the ground together! This is a nice way of saying that Will requires full time one-on-one adult supervision when near water, cliffs, parking lots, sharp objects...pretty much always.


The other remarkable thing about Yaquina head is that it is a great on-shore whale watching location. There are a couple of times a year that gray whales migrate past this point close to shore. More impressive is the fact that some resident gray whales are located near this area. What would be really impressive is if we had actually seen some. We didn't. What we did see was seals. They are the little light gray spots on the rock in the picture below. I won't go into detail about the giant dead seal on the beach. Ugh...


Seals on the rocks.



A view of the beach from up top.



The boys and the lighthouse.

The driftwood that Ian really wanted. Honestly. This was actually an argument.





Scaling the rocks, reaching the top and VICTORY! as the other boys join him. Ian is entertaining to say the least. Notice the tiny piece of driftwood in his hand. This is the one he was relegated to bringing home. Poor guy...

Mike and Will exploring. You have to hold on tight to this one...he's a runner.

Mama and the kiddos. Miss Laney Beth is going to have to work on that "cheese". She is actually saying it, but unfortunately, it leads to this face! :) :)


And that concludes our summer vacation. School is officially in full swing this week. Ian is still taking ballet (all boys this year), he wants to start karate lessons, all 3 kids should start swimming lessons soon and my days as a chauffeur have begun. I love having a schedule though and Fall is my very favorite time of year so no complaints!

I will write soon with school updates!