Marcus update

We had his speech screening a few days ago. I've been meaning to blog but I've been busy! My store has taken off a bit lately and it keeps me busy in between the boys keeping me busy, haha!

Anyways, we went to his speech screening and he failed pretty bad. I knew he would fail and I knew he would fail pretty bad, but he seriously failed bad. I don't know the total points it was out of, but they said he needed a ten at a minimum to pass and he got a 3. He's made such huge strides in speech though so I was hoping he wouldn't fail quite so bad. He did amazingly in the learning section though and impressed the two ladies with his ability to name cubes and cylinders and other 3D shapes! He got all his numbers, colors and letters right.

He wasn't able to say his name. That one is hit or miss. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. He couldn't say if he was a boy or a girl, but I've never worked on those with him. He wasn't able to pick the smallest or largest out of a group the first time. He's got a great memory though. They went through a few things and he missed like half, but they told him the answer and when they went back through a few minutes later he did it perfectly.

We're going back for a more extensive evaluation in January. He's going to be tested for Autism to rule it out (I doubt he has it... he's never given me any reason to believe he is), a pre eval for dyslexia (I'll be interested to see what they say with this one since I'm pretty convinced he has it) and some behavioral testing since he has a hard time sitting in classroom settings with other kids.

Jamesen is doing really well. Other than being a constant fuss bucket, he's talking so much. I feel really bad actually, he's getting close to being at the same level Marcus is. He's amazing me with his ability to speak and how clear he says things! He's already saying small sentences! Marcus didn't start doing that until after 3! He's such an amazing little boy and so affectionate when he's not crying. He def. has taught me patience. I don't know what his deal is, but he seems to always be crying, lol! It sure does make his smiles and giggles that much better though. It makes me appreciate every toothy grin he gives me so much more.

Gemma is doing great as well and is officially half way done with baking! Her movements are getting really strong. Sabe's been able to feel her move for a few weeks now, but she's really starting to get strong the last couple of days. It's actually hurt when she's moved a few times, haha! She moves way less than the boys did though, especially Jamesen, which is fine by me! Jamesen kicked the crap out of me! She usually only moves after I've eaten or when I lay down to go to bed.

We're doing great here! Just hanging out and preparing for Thanksgiving. We're going to be going to a friend's house. We went trick or treating with them and are excited to do thanksgiving too! She's got a little Autistic boy that Marcus has really taken to. I think they both know each other is different and so they just gravitate towards each other. It's sweet really! Marcus has only seen him a few times, but calls all little boys (in pics, other kids at the park, etc) Logan when he sees them for a week after a play date! Amber says that Logan is really excited about Marcus being his friend too :) I think it's so great that Marcus has a little playmate who doesn't see him as weird because he doesn't act the same. The kids at church his age treat him weird and it makes me sad.

I've been Christmas shopping and I feel so great this year! I've been saving up all my amazon gift cards from swagbucks and a lot of the money from my store to pay for Christmas this year. I can't tell you how good it felt to have money saved up specifically for Christmas and not tap into our savings or put it on our credit card and just try not to feel guilty for doing so. We've got Christmas 100% shopped and paid for and it didn't even eat into our savings or hurt our bills! What a great feeling that is.

Sabe and I have been slowly but surely chipping away at our debt. We don't have much other than car debt, but the car debt is getting us pretty good. We have to be really careful how we spend our money every paycheck or we end up almost starving the last few days before he gets paid again! I've got a plan though. We should be 100% debt free in 7 years and then we'll start saving for a house because eventually we'll get out of the military and need somewhere to stay! Sabe's got at least 15 years left in the military though so we've got awhile.

Anyways, that's it for now. nothing special, just hanging out and counting down to Christmas! The holidays are so much better when you've got kids!!

My kids are awesome.

All day long they've been showing me just how awesome they are. Take Marcus for example. I made tuna noodle casserole for the first time for dinner and not only did Marcus (who use to be SO picky) try it, he snarfed it! He was pretending to be cookie monster. Normally I don't like him using his fingers but he was being so funny I just laughed at him. "Oh greenbeans. nomnomnomnomnom. Oh tuna. nomnomnomnonnom." So flippin' funny. He's such a ham.

Earlier today I was sitting there crocheting away while the boys were playing. Jamesen brought me a book and plopped into my lap (on top of my crochet, haha) and snuggled up to me while I was reading it. He kept putting his cheek to mine and snuggling in. Sooo flippin' cute.

Today at the post office there was a really long line. The boys were a bit crazy but for the most part stayed out of people's way and listened to me. At one point, Marcus went running back down the line away from me and I called him and he came running back, grabbed my hand and pretended to eat it. Jamesen of course had to get in on it when I started laughing and it turned into them both licking me, but it was pretty funny anyway.

I've gotten barely any crocheting done because they've been wanting to snuggle me so much today. I can't say no to two little boys attacking me with kisses and hugs and wanting in my lap! I've got no power against their attacks, haha. I feel so blessed to have their little spirits in my life and that they're healthy. What more could a mother ask for?

We've not really been doing much. We've just been hanging out while Sabe's been gone. I didn't blog about Halloween I just realized. It's a lot easier for me to upload pics on FB so you can see that album here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100177140136719.2482872.17817329&type=1&l=2d75f9f845

They did really well on Halloween for the most part. I was worried J was going to freak out and thought M would be so gung ho. The opposite happened haha! Marcus wanted to ring doorbells, but apparently on Fort Benning, if you're giving out candy, you sit outside and hand it out. He got pretty upset about that and threw a huge fit. Jamesen though... That kid did so good! He was dragging his bag after awhile because it was so heavy. After awhile, Marcus stopped being a brat and just went for the candy. They were so cute in their costumes!

Anyways, not much more to blog about. We don't do much other than go to the park, the post office or the grocery store. I'll try to blog more often for you mom!