Normal?

Normal? What is normal? Why is it such a loaded word? "you're results are normal", " the test was normal", "everything was normal", "they are reading, writing, speaking, hearing, comprehending at a normal level"!

Websters Dictionary defines normal as:
adjective

1.conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

 

Well the word normal brought me to tears today... 

  

Today while playing with friends a very sweet 3 year old said to to me "why doesn't Hadley talk like a NORMAL kid"! Insert crushing blow! I explained that she does talk like normal kid but she was younger and just didn't talk as well as her. Now I know this little girl didn't mean anything by it and is simply at the age of curiosity. This did not stop me from feeling absolutely sick to my stomach the rest of the day! I actually had to go to my car to call G and have a good cry. 

 

Those who know us know about Hadley's struggle with her speech. While we have had her evaluated TWICE by 2 different speech pathologists and they have both said there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with her, today's question from a 3 year old has me totally freaked out! Hadley has hundreds upon hundreds of words, she can count to 10, and say her ABC's (fairly clearly), but she defiantly doesn't speak in sentences. She says mostly one/two word phrases. The speech pathologist we met with in July says she is a little behind in the 3/4 word phrases, but she did not think see needed any therapy sessions and said quite simply "she was out smarting us and she was a bit Lazy in her speech"! She has found ways to get what she wants from us and others without having to speak in full sentences. 

So why the tears??? 

Every parent wants their kids to "fit in" to have lots of friends, to do well in school, etc... 

So today when this happened my first thought was bullying!!! No she wasn't being bullied and she has quite a few years before she is in school and I have complete faith that she will be caught up by then, but still the thought of her being seen "different" or "not normal" by other kids absolutely crushed me.  She is such a sweet , loving, social little girl! She has tons of friends and gets along with everyone! I just love her so much and her Dad and I want nothing but the best for her. I immediately started questioning everything I do as a parent! Do I not work with her enough? Is there something that I am doing or NOT doing that could cause her distress in the future? I know I am way over thinking this, but I honestly have never felt so lost as I did in that moment. 

I am only writing this so in a couple of years I will look back at this a laugh about how silly I was to over think this, as I know she will be a thriving kindergartner. :) 

Playing in Mommy's make up

Melt my heart

Pre School?

Hadley's had her first day of preschool this week!
I can not believe my little girl is this big! She had a pretty good morning... Her teachers said she cried on and off but I know it will get better.
Her is a pic of our big girl :)

After naps we played in our crafts area!

She must have been taking this very serious since she has her tongue out! haha. 

Please excuse the pj bottoms

24 Hour bug & 1st day of gymnastics!

 I had some sick babies around here last night and today :(
Ivy started throwing up in the middle of the night and it continued throughout the day. Thankfully she was in great spirits, but the poor girl couldn't keep anything down and for the 1st time in her life she didn't have much of an appetite.

My sweet girl :(

Hads only got sick once last night and apparently slept right through it! I didn't find it until this morning...sick!

She was in a great mood this morning, ate a great breakfast (and kept it down) so we decided to go to gymnastics! She was the star of the class and teachers helper with all of the demonstrations! I cant believe what a difference 6 months makes! Her last class ended in April and she was still so shy and wouldn't even get a stamp from the teacher! That has all changed now! haha. I really like the gym we are at and the teacher is really great with the kids!

She LOVED this big wheel thing!

My fearless child

Teachers Helper )

She didn't really have a big appetite for lunch so I got both girls down for their naps early and the BOTH slept for over 2 hours! They really needed it.

 Ivy still didn't eat much for dinner but I am hoping she does keep what little she had down tonight!

Sister was just NOT herself today

Hads was back to her old self at supper, eating everything in sight ;)  And we had baths and Hads had a cuddle with Addicus!

I have said it before, but Boxers are the BEST dogs in the world!

I put both girls to bed about half an hour early tonight because I know they were still 'a little' under the weather! Tomorrow is Hadley's first day of preschool! I can hardly believe it! Hopefully a great night sleep for my big girl!

The Girls Rooms

So my family keeps asking for pictures of our new house and I have yet to get around to the whole house but here are a few pics of the girls rooms.

Hadley's Room

The Bed doesn't match just yet... Its an antique bed that has bed in G's family for YEARS! WE love it but we plan on staining it a dark color to match the rest of the furniture.

Ivy's Room:

These pictures don't do their rooms justice, but they turned out so cute!

Jamie

4 Years! (August 31st)

Can it be??? 4 Years already!

For some reason the last couple of anniversary's(at least 2 of them) Graham has been either away working or away playing hockey! Thankfully he was home for this one! We got the girls to bed and then my sister-n-law stayed with them while we went for supper! It was so nice to have just me and him time! We talked, we laughed, and neither of us were chasing a kid around ;)
I have said it many, many times but I will never understand why I got so lucky to have such an amazing man fall in love with me and marry me! I thank God everyday for blessing me with an amazing husband that is sweet, funny, loyal, hard working, Godly, handsome, and loves me for me... with all of my faults! He is hands down the most amazing Dad in the world and our daughters will NEVER doubt for a second in their lives how much he loves them.

Thank you Babe for a wonderful 4 years and I am looking forward to many, many more!

Love you to the moon and back

Before we left for dinner :)

Ummm yes, he decided to changed shirts before we left the house... And he says I am the indecisive one! haha.

Bah Blog....

I seriously think about things I should blog about multiple times a day but every night I decide my bed sounds better than typing and I honestly cant remember what I wanted to blog about!

Updates on my girls....

Hadley has been 'potty trained' for 3-4 weeks now! It was a frustrating start, but just like everyone said it all of a sudden just clicked for her! It was AMAZING!!! She pees no problem and rarely has an accident, but going number 2 is a whole other story! She will HOLD it as long as she can (up to 3 days) and then go during the night with a diaper on? I really am not sure what to do other than just be patient and hope that it clicks soon? She is just afraid and I have no idea how to help her with that! Our other major dilemma is that is absolute petrified of public restrooms?????????????? I mean if I even walk toward one she starts screaming a holds on for dear life? The only thing I can figure is that it is the noise, but am I seriously going to have to drive around with a potty in the back of my car forever? I am taking any and all suggestions on both of these problems! ;)

We start gymnastics on Monday and Pre-school on Tuesday! Its going to be a VERY busy week for us. I am really hoping she adjusts well to her new school and loves her new teachers as much as she loved her teachers at her daycare in Calgary! She will be going T,H mornings from 9:15- 11:30! I am not going to know what to do with just one kiddo on those days!

Ivy Mae is growing like crazy! She is now pulling up on everything! She is so fast on all fours and is usually chasing Hads around the house! Ivy is participating in the Fall Baby Crawl this weekend! I am so excited about it. I will defiantly post pics asap! We went to meet our new doctor one Wednesday and learned Ivy has gained 2 pounds in the last month! Girl.can.eat! She is loving table foods and I still haven't found something she doesn't like! She was 18.5 pounds (with clothes on)!

Graham was just home for 2 weeks and it was great! The 2 weeks away are so hard, but the 2 weeks home (every single day) are amazing! We got so much accomplished around the house and it is really starting to feel like a home.

Sorry this was pretty boring, but like I said, never anything to say at the end of the day!!! haha. 

Sweet Ivy Mae

Sister love

Hadley helping Daddy shave