EI Re-eval

   The boys had their Early Intervention Re-evaluation yesterday and I'm a bit conflicted.  Initially, Ben & Nate had services for OT (CST), PT, & development and Sam had services for OT (CST).  Their developmental specialist and I really thought that they would no longer qualify.  I was panicked.  I didn't want them to be discontinued.  It's an internal fight...the SPED teacher in me is pissed at the MoM in me.  The SPED teacher tells parents everyday that their kid is fine and doesn't need services any more, but the MoM in me doesn't want to let the services go....AHHHHHH!!!
  So, Nate went first.  He failed the Gross Motor section.  We thought (and secretly hoped) this would be the case since he isn't walking yet (baby steps...literally).  Then he passed the Cognition and Fine Motor (YAY!), but failed communication (both receptively and expressively).  He can totally do some of the things they asked him, but he was sleepy and didn't want to perform.  Oh, well...that means he still gets PT and his developmental specialist.
  Then Sammy was up.  He passed Gross Motor (he's our "typical" role model), Cognition, and Fine Motor, but failed for Communication (both expresive and receptive).  That means he gets to see the developmental specialist now too.  Again, he can do a lot of things they asked, but they have to see it in that instant and they can't just go on what I tell them.
  Last was Mr. Benjamin.  He also failed for Gross Motor because he's too chicken to walk (yes, I called my son a chicken).  He passed with the highest cognitive and fine motor skills (he even colored for them!?!).  Expressive language was a pass (this is the kid that I had a private speech eval for), but failed on receptive.  So, he'll be getting PT & development specialist visits.
  Overall, it was a long, stressful day.  We still have to develop their plans to map everything out.  They also all scored poorly on self help skills...and it's MY fault.  I don't want them to drink from an open cup, use a spoon, or take off their socks!!!  I guess this is something I have to work on (for me too).  They didn't get points for using a brush either because we don't brush their hair!  Ben's is just straight and flat and could you imagine if we tried to brush Nate & Sam's???  OY!!! 

Christmas Party 2011

Yay for our annual friends (some may call them family) Christmas Party...only posting Langlais pictures as I don't have permission from the others involved...I hope Santa doesn't mind!!!

Sam-Santa-Nate-Eli-Ben

Sam-Eli-Santa-Nate-Dave-Ben-Renee

You'd better be good for goodness sake!!!

It's really hard to find pictures of the babies without other people in them.  They had a blast tackling their "cousin" who is a month younger than them.  Super fun day...maybe now I can rest!!!

Christmas Goodies

I'm not sure when or where it started, but I torture my close friends and family with oodles of goodies at Christmas time.  It may be a tradition that needs to come to a close because of the sheer time, energy, and cost we put into them, but people SWEAR they eat them and enjoy them...hmmm...

So....because I have a fancy new camera and wanted to mess around with it, I figured I'd try to take some fun pix of things we made...

New Camera...messin' around...

So I've been saving up for close to a year and then combined with my birthday money (Ah, thank you very much), I was able to buy a new camera.  I'm not sure if I'll be any good at taking pictures, but I figure that a better camera won't hurt.

The kiddies aren't too fond of the flash, but once I read the manual (maybe) and watch the DVD (maybe) then I'll figure out all the settings...any hints???

We're baaaaaaaack!!!

We are officially equipped with a new laptop and a new camera so hopefully we're back for good now.  The biggest issue now is getting caught up on everything we've missed...

Crash...

...so at a time of year when I should be blogging feverishly, we are at a loss...our computer has crashed...again...OY!!!  Hopefully Santa will bring me a new one, but until then...AHHHHH!!!

St. Nick's Day

We celebrate St. Nicholas' Day by St. Nick coming and putting a small item in our shoes.  I don't know where this tradition came from or why we do it, but it's what we do.  St. Nick typically puts ornaments in our shoes for some reason...