Stamping Is a Family Affair

As many of you know I started selling Stampin' Up! a little over a year ago. I love scrapbooking, cardmaking and stamping and the fact that I can do that as a job is even more fun! The kids love it too. Chloe is constantly asking me if she can stamp. Well the other day I brought out some stamps and paper so the kids could make get well cards for Gerri (Uncle Michael's mother-in-law) who had a stroke this week. They had so much fun coloring and creating.



Chloe loves to stamp and had so much fun playing with Mom's punches.



Aidan has become a budding artist over the past few months. He loves to color especially if his big sister is coloring too.

They both had so much fun and Chloe is already asking when she can stamp again!!

Garden Delights

Nana and Poppa have a beautiful garden this year. Aunt Kim and Uncle Michael have been helping them keep up with it. And of course Aidan and Chloe love being right in the middle of it all. They have their own kid-size garden tools--shovels, rake and a hoe--that they love to use.






We've enjoyed fresh veggies all summer long--potatoes, carrots, lettuce, squash, onions and more. It has been so nice to have the fresh food that isn't covered in chemicals. We've all benefitted from the garden.

New Carseat!!

Brenna is getting so big. She is just a ball of joy! When she gets excited she can't sit still, her arms and legs just start wiggling. She is laughing and giggling, especially at her big sister. She is playing with toys more now and does really well playing on her tummy. She has gotten so big that she has already outgrown her infant seat. The poor thing was so squished in it that she hated going on car rides. She just got her brand new car seat today. So once I got it installed we went for a drive to test it out.



As you can see, she was so thrilled that I was taking her picture. :-) Believe it or not she does actually enjoy being in her carseat not that she is not squished. She likes the fact that she has wiggle room now!

Chloe's Speech

Yes, that is our cat Silver in the stroller! What can I say, it is summer, her brother and sister were napping and she wanted to play with someone!

As you know, Chloe has had issues with her speech her entire life. She started speech therapy when she was 3.5 years old, almost four and has been in it ever since. She has also attended developmental preschool through our local school district. Our local school district diagnosed her with a speech delay, cognitive delay and a social delay. She has come a LOOOOONG way over the years and has overcome so much.

This past spring we were disappointed with the speech therapy she was receiving from the school district. So we went through our insurance to get her private speech therapy. The private speech therapy has done way more than years of speech therapy through our school district has done. She loves going there and works really hard with her therapist. Friday her therapist diagnosed Chloe (with a completely different diagnosis than the school district) with Developmental Apraxia of Speech. This is HUGE!! I have been trying to get a diagnosis for years with no luck.

Apraxia is a neurological speech disorder that affects the "motor plans" of the brain. When we speak our brain tells our mouth, lips, jaw, etc. how to move to make words and sounds. When Chloe tries to speak her brain does not tell or properly tell her mouth, lips, jaw, etc. how to make the right sounds. In her mind it sounds right, but it doesn't come out right. Somehow the signals from her brain to her mouth do not work correctly. This can be especially frustrating for her when she knows a word but cannot say it, the signals to help her say it are just not there. This not only affects speech but it affects her motor skills (i.e. dance), reading, math, and language. Chloe does not have a severe form of the disorder, which we are grateful for.

We are so excited to finally have a diagnosis for Chloe. No, it doesn't mean a quick fix, she will be in speech therapy for years and will struggle with school but now we know how to help her. I will focus on teaching her sign language (she already knows quite a bit) to help her with her communication. We will continue speech therapy since that is the best help for apraxia.

Of course our sweet, beautiful little girl is oblivious to all of this. She doesn't "get" why she can't talk like everyone else, which just makes me love her more!

Sunny Days

Beating the Heat at the County Fair

Today it rained, Hallelujah!!! We've had days of record breaking heat and have been praying for relief and it finally came. We spent the weekend desperately trying to stay cool. Friday I decided to surprise the kids with a trip to our county fair. It had been years since I had taken Chloe and Aidan has never gone to the fair. So after Chloe's speech we lathered on the sunscreen, grabbed a bunch of bottled water, loaded into the Suburban and headed out. Even though the kids had no idea where we were going they were up for an adventure.

This little photo op was way too cute to pass up! Chloe wanted to be the lamb but Aidan was too short to peek through the farmer's face.


Aidan was so excited to see all of the animals. He kept making clucking sounds to all the chickens which was hilarious. Chloe loved the rabbits and laughed at all the coke cans in the rabbit cages. (Cold soda cans keep the rabbits cool in the heat). Chloe also loved looking at all the dogs. We saw cows and horses as well. We took time out from our busy day and watched the barrel races. Aidan had a blast cheering on the horses even though he had no idea why he was cheering.


Here is Chloe getting fingerprinted for a child i.d. kit. She thought it was fun getting ink all over her fingers. She looked like Mom does when she gets done stamping. LOL! She climbed on the fire truck after she got her finger prints taken. Aidan looked on, he refused to put his shoes back on so he could go on the fire truck. Did I mention it was hot? I didn't blame him for not wanting his shoes on.



Every once in a while there would be a great breeze that blew through the fairgrounds long enough to cool all of us down. It was a great day of looking around, trying new things! One of the new things we tried were snow cones! Aidan has never had one (at least to my knowledge) and it's been a long time since Chloe has had one. Aidan did fairly well with his at first but by the time we made it to the car he was covered in sticky flavoring and little bits of ice. Oh well, at least he was nice and cool!


In case you are wondering where Brenna was...she was in my front carrier for most of the day just kind of "hanging" out. She loves the carrier and gets so excited when it is time to get into it. She took the day in stride and enjoyed looking around underneath her wide-brim sunhat.

Brenna Playing

Brenna is now three months old! She is still as adorable as ever! She is doing better with her stomach and is getting more alert every day. She is smiling more at strangers, although she still has to be coaxed to give a smile. Brenna is definitely a "Momma's Girl" and doesn't like to be passed around. She is never happier than when she is in Mom's arms (thank goodness for my new baby carrier)!!! She loves to watch her brother and sister while they are playing (as long as they aren't screaming or in her face). She has recently discovered toys. She loves to lay under her play gym and look at all the toys hanging off the bars. Here are some pictures of her playing with some toys before bedtime one night.

Never Seperate a Boy from His Blankie!!!

Here is Aidan with his favorite "Blankie". This blanket gets dragged throughout the house constantly. It is a constant battle to even get the darn thing washed. Washing it sparks a tragic bought of alligator tears as I shut the washing machine. I had just pulled it out of the dryer and it was nice and warm and snuggly. Aidan immediately wrapped up into it and climbed into the rocking chair. Now keep in mind that the house was like a sauna as we have been going through a heat wave. (It was in the mid-80s outside and not much better in the house). That didn't stop a happy reunion however. He sat like that for about thirty minutes. :-)

Big Boy Bed!

After night after night of Aidan climbing out of his crib and sleeping on the floor of his room, it was time for my baby boy to graduate to "Big Boy" status. Today he got a toddler bed. Which was a nightmare to put together I might add. It didn't help matters much that there was a very excited little boy in our way. The bed was finally built correctly and made (with Spider-Man sheets). Aidan was thrilled. I think he thought it was more of a toy than a bed though. His crib will stay in his room for a few weeks until he is used to the transition.

PS--The sibling rivalry has already begun...that's Brenna's bear in his bed. He swiped it from her dresser!!