Fall for Novi 2009/The Detroit Zoo

What a weekend WE had!

Saturday morning, I woke Jacob up and the first thing he said to me was "Are we going to see Chris now?"

We drove the 2-3 hours over to the Detroit area to attend the "Fall for Novi" event. Of course, they had an open house of their police and fire departments.

Here is Jacob with firefighter, Chris (not my nephew) using a real fire hose, attached to a real fire hydrant to put out a "fire". They had this little barn with "fire" on it. There are more pics on Flickr (which you can link to on the left).


They also used an extinguisher to put out a REAL fire. And that fire was H O T!



And he sat in "a wotta" firetrucks!


A "big guy wif a traywer"!

And this, this was the best part. That is my nephew's car. The one he drives when he is on duty. Jacob is sitting in the seat, and that's Chris in the blue shirt. I also have a nice picture of them both sitting in the back seat!

Jacob in the "jail for the naughty-naughties". He went into every holding cell and checked out every toilet!

His shirt says, "when I grow up, I want to be a police officer, just like my cousin!" He also has a Novi police sticker as well as a Novi Fire Department sticker, on his shirt. Last but not least, he is wearing his "police shoes" too.

Sunday, we woke up early, took a swim in the hotel pool, ate breakfast and headed to the Detroit Zoo. The Tauber Family Railroad took us to the back of the zoo and we walked to the front.

Jacob got a new "afari" hat and a rubber snake.

We saw two rhinoceroses (yes, I had to look that up!).

And some zebras.

And a 2 year old giraffe.

A hippopotamus with HORRIBLE breath!

A sleeping polar bear. Yes, his paws were right on the glass!

And another polar bear. "Take my picture wif that bear, mommy!"

The Rockham Fountain

Thank you, Chris, for opening your home and your home away from home to us. Thank you for being an excellent tour guide and showing us around your department. I couldn't be more proud of you or that Jacob has chosen you as one of his heroes. Be careful and stay safe!

Thank you Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike for helping us to put all of this together (you too, Chris) and to make another special memory with Jacob. We certainly appreciate all you did for us! We had a really great time!

Making Changes - Confessions for Week 3

1 FooFoo Coffee

My groceries - we lacked a little here. $157 (but there was a HUGE sale on pork!).

I have found that I do spend more if Jeremy shops with me vs. one of us going alone.

1 new set of sheets - I have one that needs to go!

1 lunch at work.

Jeremy and I went on a date which included, dinner, mini golf and a babysitter.

I ran out of cards (birthday, anniversary, and Halloween) and baby wrapping paper.

And we had 5 bags of recycling!

A LARGE improvement over last week.

Daddy, I want to see your.....

As I am getting out of the shower Jacob walks in.

"Daddy, I want to see your pee-pee."

I ask, "Why do you want to see my pee-pee?"

"Because you have to pee daddy. You pee like a cow."

Therapy = back in session - or maybe not

Jacob started back to therapy this morning. And will continue every Monday morning until school is out, or so we thought...

His OT - Mrs. Harris has remained with us this year. I'm glad. I'm not sure he would have handled that change very well.

We do have a new speech therapist though. Her name is Mrs. V. We met her this morning. Jacob did very well with her. He talked and he played. And she said THE best thing ever, "If I were evaluating him as a 3 year old, I would NOT recommend him for services." She said he has significantly improved over Mrs. Honche's reports from last year.

I knew Jacob's speech had improved over the summer. I was very curious if he'd need therapy this year. Mrs V. did say that he does still have trouble with the "L" but they don't work with that until 1st grade!

Over the next few weeks, Mrs V is going to reevaluate Jacob and see exactly where he does stand and possibly think about a preschool for him.

OT with Mrs. Harris went just as well. She says that typically speech therapy and OT go hand in hand - they don't typically do one without the other. She is also going to do some testing in the next few weeks but, it's likely Jacob will test out of OT as well!

The sensory processing disorder is still there. It has its peaks and valleys. Some days, we don't notice it. Some days it glares at you from every ounce of his 47 lbs.! We've noticed that it mostly appears when he's scared, nervous, or uncertain. I think Jeremy and I have really learned what triggers it, what will cause the issues, and how to deter or evade. As he's growing up, the severity is going down. THANK YOU, LORD!

They have to reevaluate to close his case however, we're confident that won't be a problem.

I can't even begin to tell you how proud/ecstatic/relieved I am. I went from having a child that was almost a year behind all of the other kids his age to normal - in FOUR months! I was concerned that he'd have to be in therapy all through school. I was worried for him. And now, it's just gone. It's all gone.

Visit to Uncle Gorilla's

A few months ago, Jacob and I were talking about brothers and sisters and family. I had said, "Chris, Hannah, Nick, and Nevaeh are your brothers and sisters. Aunt Cindy, Aunt Karen, Aunt Gloria and Uncle David are my sisters and brother."

Jacob says, "I wanna go see Uncle Rilla!" I'm not sure how David translates into Gorilla but, hey, he's 3!

Friday night, we went for a visit.

This is their dog, Daisy. She loves to play.

My sister-in-law (my brother's wife) had one huge rose in bloom. I couldn't resist!


"Come on, throw my ball!"

"Wait, Daisy. Wait!"

"Give!"

That's my brother, in the red and his daughter, Brooke (she's 13) in the blue.

And we walked down the road a little bit and saw some horses, a donkey, some fuzz footed chickens, a kitty, and these turkeys sitting on the fence.

Uncle David also gave Jacob a new hat - with a pumper truck on it!!

Thanks Uncle Dave, Aunt Jenny, Brooke and Daisy! We had a lot of fun!

Happy late Birthday, Random Thoughts

Wow, that snuck right up on me! Time flies! I was working on a series of future posts and I realized that my blog had a birthday!

When I started this blog, a little over 2 years ago (August 9, 2007), I never thought I'd make it this far!

I wondered:

Will I have enough to say?

Will anyone read?

Will I continue it?

Will I get more comfortable in my writing?

Will people be angry for what I write?

Will I be misunderstood?

My posts need titles? I hate titles!

My answer to most of those questions, was a resounding, yes. And the titles, I still struggle.

I also found a few things that I didn't expect.

New friends.

A new way to converse with an old friend.

More understanding than I ever imagined.

New insight/memories of my family. I love when my sister's tell me, "I read (something) on your blog and I had to tell you..."

A conversation starter.

Self confidence. Self assurance. Self reliance.

Empowerment.

I certainly see an improvement. I hope the next year, continues to get better. I hope to write more about Jacob as he grows and the adventure (aka - psychosis) that he brings to the game. I'm thankful to have you here with me (even those of you that only I know are here).

As a reminder - you can comment anonymously here and that can be done without another user name and password for you to remember. If you feel like it, you can also sign up to have us emailed to you when we do post.

Thanks for reading!

Allegan County Fair 2009

Jacob rode all by himself on a couple of rides this year. He's in the last truck on your left.

And the train - doesn't he just look like a natural? And the carnie's belly, well, that's just a plus for you!

He got to pet a baby bunny.

And "baaaa!" at some sheep. He was really excited to see a cow pee but, I didn't take any pictures. I seem to recall him saying, "That's alotta pee!".

And the tractor pulls - this guy wasn't the winner of the modified farm style but, his picture had the best smoke!

Jacob with his "ears on" eating popcorn.

'After Hours' - the winner of the truck pulls.

And the winner of the modified tractors. (Notice the white in the botton corner? Yeah, that old dude's head is in every. single. one. of my pictures!)

Of course, the Ferris wheel at night. We rode earlier. Jacob loved it - I thought I was gonna hurl. Have I mentioned - I HATE heights! And they stopped us at the TOP! Twice!

We didn't get our tradional picture with George on the Allegan Fire District truck - matter of fact we didn't see any of the 'fighter-fighters' until the tractor pulls and they were all in gear and on the track in case of an emergency. We did see plenty of Sheriff's reserves - Jacob got a sticker. We got a high-five from Mel and the Allegan City Police. Jacob got to sit in the police's golf cart AND he got to go in the ambulance. I had the camera and was waiting for them to come back from the bathroom so, I didn't get pictures of ANY of it! We also got to see the Sheriff's mounted patrol on our way home! Oooh! Their horses are beau-ti-ful!

Making Changes - Confessions Week 2

I bought a pig shaped scrubbie holder for my kitchen sink and a bag of candy corn. My scrubbie holder was too small - the scrubbie didn't fit and I would almost die for candy corn.

I bought coffee from work once this week.

I also bought lunch at work. I forgot my soup bowl at home - you can't cook soup in styrofoam!

I bought the cupcake decorations for Jacob's birthday. I'm making the cupcakes myself. I just bought the little picks, like the bakery uses - for $2.50. Think of what I'll save vs. a bakery cake!

I also bought a water fountain for our cats - Brady (my cat) has crystals in his urine. He got violently ill from the meds from the vet. I was recommended a fountain as they make the cats want drink more and a cat that drinks more keeps his system flushed - thus eliminating the crystals. Then lets hope he goes back to the litter box and NOT MY BASEMENT FLOOR!

Jeremy's parents came to see Jacob and we ordered pizza.

I bought some fabric in Marshall to start a summer quilt for my bed. The one we have now is tearing at a lot around the middle, the seams and the edges are torn and fraying - also it's a queen and our bed is a king. It's also...pink. I think I spent around $50 including our dinner that whole day.

I mistakenly paid an extra $100 on our mortgage that I didn't intend to do. Funny thing being - by doing that, my budget isn't really affected....

I did buy a Birthday gift for Jacob that was on my list - only I had intended to pay for it with a reward certificate but, I got such a great deal to buy it outright - that I did! From $39.99 marked down to $19.99 and $5 to ship.

$68 at the fair this week.

Have I told you how HARD this is to do??

And you're probably thinking that I'm really sucking at this 'not shopping' thing. But really, just by forcing myself to tell you where I've failed, has really made a difference. I'll pick up something extra, in a store and I'll say to myself, "You know, if you buy that, you're going to have to confess another failure. Is this thing really worth telling the internet about?" and I put it down. Most times.

Honestly, compared to last week's list, I think I've improved.

Touring

Most of my up coming posts are going to be pictures. If I don't get started now, I'll be behind before I begin!

I'm sharing my visit to Marshall. Actually, I'm sharing with you my Christmas gift from my sister. Granted, it was a little early but, I have to say, this was one of my best Christmas gifts ever! I really enjoyed spending that time with Karen and I hope we can do this again next year. Thank you, Karen.

I couldn't take pictures inside ANY of the homes but, I did have fun outside!

We didn't tour this home. I couldn't resist the little orange roadster.


On the porch of home #3.


Walking back for lunch.


Karen and I really liked the garden at this house. It wasn't on the tour either.

Inside the church where we enjoyed the salad smorgasbord. I said this before and I'll say it again - I love salads prepared by fine Christian women. Note to self: Arrive earlier next year. :)

I'm glad it all worked out that Cindy could come to meet Karen and I. We had lunch together and went on to the quilt show. I have a quilt in my living room that the three of us did together. I do like quilts - I don't have the time for them that I'd like to have...I also have a little BIG helper. I did find some fabric that I fell in love with to start a new quilt for my bed (my other is torn and shaggy) and I've begun collecting. It's going to take me a long time to collect fabric for a king sized quilt!

I did put more pics on Flickr - you can get to them by following the link in the photo section to your left.

We're going to the Allegan County Fair tonight - more pictures to come!

A day in Marshall...

I'm really looking forward to this weekend!

My sister, Karen (#2) is coming down with her dog, Louie. Jacob loves Louie (and he's not allergic to him)...and we're always glad to have my sister too. ;)

To the point, Karen and I are going to Marshall on Saturday. We're going to do the Tour of Homes, a church's Salad Smorgasbord luncheon, and meeting our sister, Cindy (#1) for the quilt show. Maybe, just maybe, I can talk them into finishing up at the Chocolate Cook-Off!?! There is also an art fair, a farmer's market and a bunch of other events. Karen and Cindy have gone to this before - I have not. And, I'm very excited to go with them.

I remember once, when I was a kid. Cindy and Ron, Karen and Mike, and some other people (don't remember who) were all going together to watch fireworks for July 4. I remember thinking then - when I grow up, I'll be able to go and do fun stuff with them too. I wasn't angry, hurt, or even jealous at the time - I just remember looking forward to being able to go with them as a grown up.

I'm planning to take my Nikon and see what I can see. I've learned a few things about my camera in the past week (I got a Nikon D60 for Dummies book). And I am anxious to try them out! Wish me luck!

Also, a huge plus here...Jacob is staying home with his Daddy-O (as he calls Jeremy) and then going with G & G 'Fif' for the afternoon. So, I (me, Gail, mommy), actually get to go somewhere, on a weekend WITHOUT my child. And THAT. Never happens!

Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures for you next week!

Jacob and Katie

This...is Katie.


AKA the "stinky farter" as Jacob called her.


There's nothing to compare to a little boy and his dog.

Making Changes - Confessions for Week 1

I think I'm going to confess weekly regarding my changes. If I don't, I'll forget.

I did buy 1 bottle of pop. Purely out of habit.

My groceries for the week came in right around $120. I did pay with cash. Also, Jacob threw my grocery list out the window. Wow! That limits the spending right there! (Where's mommy's paper? "I 'frowed' it out." Out where? "I don't know!")

I also bought food, treats, and a leash for the dog. The food and treats we'll give to my brother for his dog. Katie, we think was allergic to beef and corn. That was $40 that could have been avoided. I really was trying to do something good. I guess, compared to what the cost would have been to get Jacob a dog and THEN find out about the allergies, we did save money! Feeble attempt, I know.

Speaking of Katie - there was a $20 unplanned expense for cleaning my carpets. Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all angry about that. The carpet did need to be cleaned. (Let me also say this - I am very sad she didn't work out for us. I really liked her and I did enjoy having her.)

I did use my canvas shopping bags for my groceries at all three stores - I did forget them at Target.

I did buy my Christmas and birthday gifts for Jeremy's nieces and nephew. I was under my limit for 2 birthdays (1 to go) and I found a huge score at Wal*Mart for Christmas for the 3 of them too. Which we had a gift card for!

I made about $150 on my garage sale. I do have a few more items to sell on eBay. I did Freecyle a bunch of the leftovers. AND I gave my picker-uppers some bonus items too! The stuff for Goodwill is in my truck to drop off tonight. I might also try this Craig's List thing...we'll see.

We did eat out quite a bit this weekend and went for ice cream twice! With the dog, the sale and I kept forgetting to take that hamburger out of the freezer! And to be quite honest - cooking wasn't anything I wanted to do.

I bought 1 coffee from work last week and 1 bagel too.

We did have extra trash this week.

I had 4 bags out for recycling (all those yard sale boxes).

We also had 4 plastic take-out containers. Shame on Jeremy!

I did buy a new calendar for 2010.

I also bought 2 prs of pajamas for Jacob (2 pr. for $19 - 1 pr. was $14). Those were on my need list for this fall. I had already cleaned out his drawers for the sale. I was feeling very guilty about this purchase. My consignment store didn't have anything decent in his size. I do still feel a little guilty. I'm not sure why.

I also bought our tickets for the Tractor Pulls at the county fair.

And, I am down another hole on my belt since this started...I'm not sure what's caused it nor am I complianing!

Of course, there is room for improvement but, I don't think that's too bad for my first week.

Fostering Katie

We attempted to foster a dog this weekend. A 9 year-old, 75 lb. Golden Retriever, named Katie. I picked her up Thursday night after work and brought her home. Jacob absolutely loved her. He followed her everywhere, hugged her, and kissed her. He even napped with her!

She's a great dog. A little stinky, and some food issues and we ended up feeding her rice and pasta but, she's so sweet and so gentle. She had a little trouble staying out of the road (of course, the car she ran in front of was a county Sheriff deputy) and liked to chase our cats but, we did enjoy having her around. She followed my every move and even barked at Jeremy when he came home. It was comforting to have her there at night.

Sadly, Saturday afternoon, Jacob broke out in hives. His little eyes got all red and itchy, his little nose, crimson and drippy. Katie had to go.

I called the retriever rescue lady and they found her another home. We all went to make the swap on Monday afternoon. She's living with another (absolutely adorable) little Golden, named Ruby and her mom, Cindi, until she finds a permanent home.

Isn't that always the case? The kid that so badly wants a dog, is always the kid that is allergic.

I'm a little sad that Katie couldn't stay with us. I am relieved that we didn't go and spend a bunch of money on a puppy to find out that Jacob does have allergies only to have to find a home for the dog.

And thanks to Katie (and Jeremy), I did get my carpets cleaned this weekend! :)

Gift Bags - my aversion explained

I was wrapping a couple of birthday gifts this past weekend and it dawned on me why I have such an aversion to giving a gift in a bag. It's not the gifts in the bag - it's just the bag itself. You may know this or have noticed this, I don't or I rarely use them.

Christmas was always just plain ugly when I was a kid. Edna always threw some type of snit. As her children, we all struggle with gifts for her. We could walk into a store and buy her everything she pointed to, wrap and give it to her and she'd still have a fit that it wasn't enough, was too much, or wasn't what she wanted. She's the only person I know who b!tches about gift cards!

Because of my mother, I always told myself that I would do anything and everything I could to make Christmas better/happier for my kids, for my family. I would always wrap gifts, and have good food and enjoy the day. No fights. No police. (I'll explain another time.)

Every Christmas, birthday, gift giving occasion, Edna never wrapped gifts. My sisters or my brother wrapped all the gifts Edna gave to me until I was old enough to do it myself. Yes, I wrapped my own gifts. Edna would put them in a box and I'd wrap the box. Oh, she'd even come up with creative ways to use the little scraps of paper too. Like wrap one little strip around the middle of the white shirt box. Or my favorite - wrap the little strip around just the corners. That caused a GIANT fight one year as I refused to do it.

Edna hoarded wrapping paper. I inherited her stash almost 4 years ago as well as a box of all the little scraps and strips, including a box of bows with no sticky. Aside from purchasing a couple of rolls of thicker, a roll of longer, and the 4 rolls that were free at a yard sale, I haven't HAD to buy paper in 4 years! Yet, she fought with me over using strips of wrapping paper!

Edna was in her glory when they came out with the pre-printed shirt boxes. You know, the ones with the little designs on the lids that you simply tape shut. Oooh! She loved those. I HATE 'em! She then gave me the store bag with my gift inside and it was up to me to stuff that store bag into that box and then tape the box shut. Merry Christmas!

Even now, with all the cute little bags available, Ole Edna, she prefers the store's plastic bag. But more often the case, now Edna chooses to write a check...sometimes. If she feels like it that year. I guess, I can only say she's fair. She slights us all the same. The kids included.

I, myself, enjoy watching a child (even old Jeremy) RIP into the paper and tear it all up to reveal what is hidden underneath. I love that look when they roll the item over and see what it is! Somehow the gift bag doesn't give off that same feeling. I mean really - you pull out three pieces of crumpled tissue paper and whoa - there's your gift. You can't shake it like a wrapped box. You can't turn it all around or upside down. And quite honestly - I'm a terrible peeker and if left alone with a gift bag with my name on it - I'll have that gift outta there, all scoped out and back in the sack so you can't even tell I looked - quicker than you can say "Christmas!" I am however, deterred by wrapping paper!

I'm going against my beliefs this Christmas and I'm giving my gifts, to the adults in gift bags - it is the easiest way to package what I have in store. But it's okay, I have plenty of paper for the little kiddies on my list. Don't you worry kids, Auntie Gail has plenty of paper for you little shredders!

**Disclaimer - I do not think less of you for using gift bags, and I do recycle the ones that I receive.

Jacobisms - a new list

Yes, it's day one of my new lifestyle but, I don't want to talk about that. I want to do something fun!

All in fun, some new Jacobisms!

Chicken Room = kitchen

Captain = Napkin

Fresh = The Polar Express movie

Highland = Holland

A trolls = where mommy works

Relbo = umbrella

Sparkles = The sprinkles on the pink frosted cupcakes from Daddy's birthday (it was Sunday).

Our bed = Mommy & Daddy's bed

Poker Bear = Polar Bear Pajamas

Butter = Peanut Butter

The other night, Jacob and I were in the grocery store, and Jacob said 'hi' to the cashier. She said "hi, what's your name?"

"I Jacob. This mommy. Her Gail. What your name?"

"Damonika, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you Monca! Bye!"

School starts next week. For us, that means speech and OT start up again. Jeremy and Jacob visited the school a few days ago and Jacob asked for Miss Honche and her firetrucks. It's very interesting to see his memory coming into play now. I'm anxious to see what the therapists have to say about Jacob's progress over this summer. In June, I saw this little boy who struggled with so many things. Coming into this fall, I see a little boy who holds a conversation and speaks quite clearly and with enunciation and emotion, who doesn't grunt and point! We've come a long way!

I think...