My Hunter

Hunter is such a ham. He is always looking for ways to put a smile on my face and anyone around him. He was born on May 7, 2008. Paul and I thought for sure we were having another girl and then our skinny little man was born. He came into this world screaming at the top of his little lungs but quickly settled down and started to take it all in. Hunter had a lot of digestive issues when he was an infant and it took us a while to figure out that he had a milk intolerance. I say intolerance because he could always eat all other dairy products. He now LOVES chocolate milk and would drink it all the time if we allowed him to.

At Hunter's 18 month check up I walked to the doctor about concerns that Paul and I had that Hunter's speech was not developing the way we thought it should. Our amazing doctor listened to all of our concerns and said to make not of things over the next few months and then come back to her. There was always the chance that because Ella was such and early talker that Hunter was just behind where she was at the same age. A couple of months went by and in my opinion the problem was just getting worse. He replaced a lot of the hard sounds (like the c in car) with an h sound. He would also replace other hard sounds with the h sound. When we went back to the doctor she agreed that there was reason to be concerned so our first step was to see if it was a hearing issue. Hunter was not able to get through a whole hearing test because he got scared, but the first test led the tech to think that it was possible that he had a problem hearing high frequencies. We went back to our doctor who referred us to the birth to 3 program. We met with the coordinator for the birth to 3 program and had Hunter tested. Unfortunately he did not pass the test for services :-( but she indicated that she would contact me again in 6 months (this was April of 2010). 

Over the next 6 months Hunter seemed to be going down hill fast. He would get super frustrated and emotional when someone was unable to understand him. This got so bad that he would just lay on the floor and cry...it broke our hearts. When Michelle, the birth to 3 coordinator, contacted me in October of 2010 I explained to her that I thought that Hunter's speech issue was a HUGE concern and that Paul and I were afraid that he would start to shut down completely. She came to meet with us again and because of Hunter's emotional distress they got him into the birth to 3 program starting in October of 2010. It was such a relief to have him seeing someone who had the tools to start and focus on how to help Hunter. He LOVED Kathy who came to our house 2 times a week. When Hunter was getting ready to turn 3 we met with the early childhood coordinator at Spruce Street school. Again they made an exception for our little man and he has been diagnosed with an "A typical" speech problem....meaning his issue is not in any of the books. In May of  2011 Hunter started speech therapy at spruce street schools with Rhonda and he has made VAST improvements in the last year. Paul and I are so thankful for everyone who has helped our little man get back to being the outgoing, humorous little man he once was. 

Like Ella, we think Hunter is destined for greatness ;-) I wake up excited every day to see what these little people that I helped to create will discover. 

My Ella

So I have decided to tell you a little about each of my kids. Ella Grace was born on March 9, 2006. She is the reason that Paul and I entered into a relationship. Where do I even start...she is an extremely active 6 year old girl who can push all my buttons when she wants to. She is independent, extremely honest, beautiful, loving, stubborn, the list goes on and on.

As mothers we all think that our children are the best and I am no exception. From the minute this little girl was born she has had me wrapped around her finger. She came into this world with her eyes WIDE open. She did not cry until they did the heel prick, she mostly just looked around (I thought odd for a newborn) and took it all in. When her daddy went to the bed where they were giving her the shot of vitamin K he said that he spoke to her and her eyes instantly met with his: Love at first sight :-) She came into this world EXTREMELY clean...only one spot of blood on her whole body (sorry if it is a little TMI) and all of the nurses remarked how they had never seen a newborn so clean before. That is not the end of this little girl's incredible entrance into this world. She was also born with 2 teeth....amazing! I had never heard of it before my daughter. I know now there are other cases, but at the time I was shocked ;-)

Ella was the PERFECT infant. She never cried and when I say that I think I can count on 2 hands the number of times she cried before she was 6 months old. As she grew she continued to be fascinated with EVERYTHING in this world that we live in. It has been so much fun to discover and REdiscover amazing things about this planet we live on. At 15 months she was speaking in full sentences and running backwards down hills by 18 months. Since she started to crawl I don't think this little girl has slowed down once. When Ella was 17 months old I got pregnant with my second child. I was so excited that my children were going to be so close in age :-) Ella went with me to every appointment and although she was scared of the doppler at first, my amazing doctor helped her to understand what it was for and after she overcame her fear she was fascinated by it. She soon started to call her little brother "the baby in the belly". To this day I am not sure she completely understood that the "baby in the belly" would some day come out of the belly, but she suddenly had an obsession with babies :-) Since Hunter was born on May 7, 2008 Ella has been the best big sister any little boy could ask for. She is always there to give Hunter a hug and kiss when he gets hurt or is sad. Don't get me wrong they do fight on occasion, but nothing like my brother and I did growing up (my brother and I are just over 6 years apart).

The ages of 3, 4, and 5 were fun and exciting years for Ella. She has learned SO much and is becoming quite the character :-) She absolutely loved her 4K year in school and even to this day (almost the end of Kindergarten) talks about how much she wishes she could go back. I love that she had such a positive experience. Her 4K teachers recognized Ella's love of nature and fostered that along with her love for anything artsy :-) Kindergarten has been hard on Ella. A lot of social issues (who knew little 5/6 year old girls could be SO mean to each other), she has also struggled with a teacher who does not appreciate who she is as a person and when I went to this teacher with concerns that possibly Ella had ADHD (she doesn't) and the teacher instantly told me that medicating is the answer. I can't wait until June 7th when Kindergarten is over. We are hoping that 1st grade is a better year!

Welcome

I have been inspired to start a blog by one of my Facebook friends. I am the mother of two AMAZING children Ella (6) and Hunter (4). In February 2012 I quit my job with the State to start an inhome daycare so I can spend more time with my precious kidlets. They are literally the light of my life, but like all kids they can drive me nutty some days. I realize, however, that someday they will not be here to drive me crazy so I am taking it all in. My boyfriend, Paul, and I have been together for almost 7 years. I plan to discuss many topics, write about my children, and write about what I do all day ;-) I am excited to have something that I can look back on years and years down the road to help jog my memory of how wonderful these days have been.