Butler - Christian moves to town!

Carol & Kenny's baby is out of the house! He's moved to Indianapolis & will be attending Butler. Engineering major.
We "helped" with the move in... OK - John carried boxes; I just tried to keep kids out of the way!

Fun times lay ahead for my only (Miller) nephew!

SCHOOL!

Hello Sports Fans!

If you have come looking for Nolan's score on school start... You have come to the right place!
Nolan is currently batting 1000!

Day 1 and 2 left us with separation anxiety issues, as well as issues with the formal school uniform. But, with a little patience, we were over it quickly; And, with a reprieve (due to sensory issues) from the Principal, we got a change to his required formal uniform. By the end of day 2, Nolan had raised his hand to answer a question!
Day 3 - Ms. Weber shared that his hand was more often in the air, then not!
And Day 4 started with flawlessly!
In less then one week... we are already where I expected our month goal to be!! YAH NOLAN!

It's not all peaches and cream, though. While Nolan did have prep time, before school started, with Ms. Weber... he did not have that time with the special section teachers. Therefore, Nolan has failed to participate or speak in any of his special classes: Spanish, Music, or Gym. With SM, I envisioned this would happen, but Ms Weber is doing all possible for Nolan to feel secure & not experience anxiousness in these classes. I think that will be our new one month goal - His participation with these subjects!

Let's just keep praying!

The 1st day of Kindergarten has begun! It looked like our prep work paid off, as Nolan eagerly got dressed & put on his back pack. Nerves hit him, though, and he couldn't eat the home-made Banana Donuts that mom and dad had made.

Although the night before, he promised that he would not cry or try to run after us & prevent us from leaving.... he still had an anxiety attack. He ran out of his class & out the front door of school. After reminding him of the good things and how to calm his nerves with happy tunes, he went back to the room. While he refused to sit at his seat, Ms. Weber did get him to sit at the Lego table.

As Mom bent down to kiss him and tell him I'd be back at 3, he responded. "Why don't you make it later, Mom, since we got here late!"

OMG!! Too funny! From one extreme to the opposite.

Last day of summer: Hello Zoo!

What a great day! Temps started in the mid-70's, when we headed to the Zoo...a trip, to celebrate the last day of summer break! The weather was not the only good thing in our day. The kids were phenomenal!

Nolan wanted to explore every animal; Hear about every kind of snake (Yuck!); He smiled for pictures - The world was right!

Jillian clapped at the Dolphin Show; Stayed non-crabby, even without a nap; And wanted to walk, more then ride.

We missed the Butterflies only because we ran out of time. We needed to be back at school, as Ms. Weber gave Nolan 1-on-1 time, so he could explore the class and get used to her. It worked! At the end of the hour, Nolan asked Ms Weber is she'd leave the Lego design on the table that he'd made. He was talking with her about her collection of Matchbox cars. He had selected his job for the week, his table and seat, and even offered to help her in the morning with other jobs, as kids arrived! He wasn't the 100% Nolan that we see at home, but for only 1 hour with her - it was a miraculous transformation!

Mom met Ms. Weber!

Well... the Kindergarten parents meeting was last night & mom is feeling much better!

I already love Ms. Weber and know that she will bring out the best in Nolan. AND - best yet... she has had a student with Selective Mutism previously - so she already know tricks of the trade and can help draw him out!

Lets pray that all goes well!

We've started reading 1 book on starting Kindergarten each night before bed....and changed the bed time to an hour earlier... all in an attempt to not overwhelm him or make him anxious about the changes!

Trip to the Dentist

Jillian got to experience her 1st teeth cleaning this week! We tried to talk her into wearing her fishy dress that would match DrMcGowan's fish wall - but nope. She has a mind of her own.
She did GREAT in the chair. DrM found another tooth popping through, so that means only 1 is unaccounted for! And, she even kept in the fluoride treatment trays for 1 minute. Maybe it was that bubble gum flavor!

After we returned home....Nolan asked... is the Tooth Fairy real? My answer... If you believe in the tooth fairy, she will come and bring you gifts. If you don't believe... she will not come. After a little more reflection, he proclaimed he believed so that he could get stuff! Wow - not even 1 tooth loose & he's already doubting the existence!

(Oh...and look real close at the pic! Jillians eyes are crossed, because she was focusing so hard on what DrM was doing!! LOL!!)

Back to Alpena - August 2010

It's unprecedented on how many trips to Alpena we have made this year! So many in such short time. The first weekend of August brought the family again together for the wedding of a family friend: Martha (now) Stuart!

Jillian napped through the actual wedding, so that kept us from the church... but the kids were ready to go when the bubbles returned to Buzie and Dzia Dzia's house.

A pond and surrounding woods to the Sportsman's Club called Nolan's name. Nolan played with Al (neighbor) and Chloe (neighbors granddaughter), while Jillian played with K-K (Katie) and B-B (Hanna). Overall, they did great for their 1st wedding!

John missed out on the fun, as he had his monthly guard training. So - mom was stuck with the 10 hour drive back home....alone....with the crazy, cooped-up kiddos. AGH!

Girls Play Date

We were blessed for a beautiful day, so that chaos otherwise could reign!

Jillian and I invited "the girls" to our house for a swim play date! The girls would be Reece, Presley, and then Gabby and Adeline from Library Story Time.

Before anyone arrived, craziness was the theme of the AM!
I popped the pool, as I swung the lawn mower around the corner, then stood there 5 minutes or more yelling for John for the assist, while I held up the side of the pool to prevent water mass exodus! A not-so-quick fix and refill was needed.
Then, Meaghan called to request John's assistance, as her oven locked & would not release. He was not able to help & the cookie inside burnt to a crisp, before their eyes.

Good thing there were margarita's for the Mom's to de-stress with!!

After everyone arrived, everything was smooth sailing!! THANKS for coming over gals!

Nolan - we have a Diagnosis

As many of our friends know, Nolan had a horrible weekend in St Louis, that was a cherry on the sundae of problems this summer.

On Tuesday, we met with his therapist, who has explained that Nolan has a Social Anxiety Disorder, with mild aspects of Selective Mutism. (Basically, he is afraid of people - adults and kids; Has slow ramp up periods to feel secure; And appears extremely shy and withdrawn - until he reaches that level of trust.)

What we don't know is how this will play out, once school starts. We have the opportunity to use medication, but the parental units are in disagreement. So, we are attempting to use every last ditch effort to help him through this hurdle.

Stay tuned for more!

Bubble Lab @ Library

We returned from Grand Rapids, so that Jillian could participate in Bubble Lab at the library. Since Nolan wasn't able to join us, we invited Reece to take his place.

While it was not "as fun" as the Water Lab, the kids still loved exploring.

Once we got there, we recognized other friends there too, including Adeline!

Grand Rapids Family Weekend

OK - OK... So, I am once again 1 week+ behind at updating my blog. And, it was a whirlwind of 1 week, so please excuse the multiple updates on one day.

Last weekend, we had the family play weekend at Jeff and Susan's! While we had Friday PM in the pool; Saturday was a bummer - with rain or clouds most of the day....we were still in the pool though; Sunday AM - one last blast in the pool before heading home.

If the kids weren't in the pool, they were off playing with the cousins.... anywhere and everywhere. Jillian was fought over, like a stuffed animal... which didn't bother her til the end of the weekend...when she just needed space!
Nolan, as usual, needed his ramp-up time to feel comfortable and greet everyone... but, thanks to Aunt Chantel and her plans, he got there rather quickly, with 1 person visiting him in the play room at a time.

Finished the weekend, with Nolan leaving with Aunt Chantel and Uncle Jon. He went on his 1st all-alone, big-boy vacation. Of course, the honeymoon lasted all of 3 days, until he packed and was ready to go home. Unfortunately - he had to wait...when Mom could travel half way!