August - School Starts!

I was nervous about Charlie starting Kindergarten like every Mom in the world.  But because everyone in this school district knows me as "Crazy Mom", they let me practice with Charlie the day before.  It was a good thing too, because that day he stood at the front doors and screamed "NO! I don't want to go!"  He was all smiles before we tried to actually go in.

 

Tyson had to show him how it was done.

And Charlie played along.

 

He posed for this picture then melted down.

We worked through it as much as we could, but I was imagining the worst when the real day came.

Well, he made a big liar out of me the day of.  He walked in like a champ and could not have cared less when Joel and I had to leave.  But really I would much rather have it be that way.  He caught on quite quickly.

 

And my 4th Grader!!!

 

He said, "Bye Mom and Dad, I got this!"  So grown up...

Charlie is POTTY TRAINED!!!

My entire life since July (well, really way before that) has been getting Charlie potty trained.  I missed birthday parties, Tyson's football season, Tyson's soccer season, KSU football games, and much, much more, but CHARLIE IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!  I could never really explain how hard this was and we still have some struggles pooping once in awhile, but we made it.  I knew it was bothering me that he wasn't potty trained yet, but until it actually happened and I felt that weight lift off my shoulders, did I really realize how significant it was.  The other day the OT gave me back a bag full of pullups and wipes that she didn't need there anymore.  I may or may not have cried a little.

So we went from this:

 To this:

For some reason I feel the need to justify not updating this blog, so on to my next excuse.  Two weeks before Charlie turned 5, I received a call saying that he was next on the list to get on the Autism Wavier.  This is huge for 2 reasons; 1)  kids "expire" off the list when they turn 5! and 2) Tyson was one that expired before we ever got any services.  This means hours and hours on the phone calling people about something that I knew absolutely NOTHING about.  To make a long story short, I finally got everything set up for him.  We now have someone coming to the house to work with him 4 nights a week and Saturdays for 2 hours at a time.  Amazing right?  We also have a new place in town that both boys are receiving OT services 3 times a week, and we still do KSU Speech twice a week for an hour a session. Whew, I'm worn out just typing it.

So now I am going to try and do an update at least for each month.  We have had a bunch of fun things going on too, like starting Kindergarten and 4th Grade!!

Where have I been...

Well, the easy one word answer is bathroom.  What a ride we have been on over the last few months.  Potty training SUCKS!  We have tried everything, and when I say everything I really mean EVERYTHING, and nothing has worked for Charlie.  So here is a little rundown...  (if talking about poop bothers you just quit reading now :) )

February - 2 weeks before Charlie turned 5 we learned that his name was next on the waiting list to get on the Autism Waiver.  Once you turn 5 you "expire" off the list and cannot get on it.  Tyson "expired", Charlie was 2 weeks from "expiring" when they called.  I was so excited.

July - yep, took me until July to get any services started.  First thing on the list was to get this kid potty trained before Kindergarten.  He was great at peeing in the toilet, but decided he did not want to poop in there.  We told him not to poop in his pants, so he didn't.

August - started Kindergarten in underwear, but still not pooping in the toilet.  Or anywhere.  We decided to take him to the doctor for some help.  He was backed up...completely.  So the Myralax diet began.  4 times a day.  Completely liquid poop.  Back to diapers.

September - back to the doctor, x-ray shows he is still backed up.  3 times a day Myralax to try to make him have to push it out.  Finally, he succeeded in a giant poop in his diaper.

October - started working with an autism specialist who wrote up a program for us to follow.  We took him every 30 minutes.  When you have to set a timer for every 30 minutes your day becomes really long.  I feel like we lived in the bathroom.  We started wearing diapers and kept data sheets of all of his accidents.  We went down to 2 times a day with the Myralax. 

November 6th - we started underwear full time.  I thought our specialist had officially lost her mind.  He was pooping 8 times a day in his diaper and we had only timed it one time in the toilet.  We went down to a 1/2 of a capful of Myralax.  I decided to keep him home from school that day just to see how it went, assuming I was going to call her and tell her we can't do this to him.  He did awesome.  Since we started the underwear full time he has had one pee accident and a few streaks, but that is it.  I still won't say that he is potty trained because we still are taking him all the time, he does not initiate it.  But we are in underwear and he is keeping them clean and dry with us taking him every hour.  I will take that for now...

So that is where I have been.  It's been my whole life since July.  When I'm not in the bathroom with him I am holding a meeting with his team at school about it.  I have missed my sister's birthday party, Tyson's soccer and football games, lots of KSU games, and any social life I had, but it is so worth it to not have to put my 5 year old in diapers anymore.  (well at least during the day, nighttime is next...) 

Kaw Valley Rodeo

This might be one of the funniest things that I have ever witnessed in all my life.  This is also the fastest I have ever seen Tyson run.  The entire place was watching Tyson and the announcers even got a kick out of him.  Enjoy!


Kaw Valley Rodeo 2013

4th of July

I realize the 4th of July was a very long time ago but it is a pretty big deal around here.  We have the privilege of hosting the entire Lundstrom clan.  Joel and I love hosting and we know our house is way too small for all of us, but we hope we can keep doing it for years to come.  This year we finally ventured out to watch some fireworks in Wamego, a small town near here.  They were absolutely amazing!  Tyson is usually not a fan of loud fireworks so I was prepared to sit in the car if we had to, but it turned out they were beautiful enough he fought through the loudness.  It was a fun holiday and thanks to all of you for coming and I hope you will be back next year!  And I am pretty bad at taking pictures and hosting so I don't have a great selection.  Sorry Lila!

 

The best seat in the house, laying on the knee board!

We also did some sparklers, which really are just the most dangerous thing and I'm surprised any of us survived childhood.

And finally, the celebration of Baby Lila turning one!!

Pink kinda looks weird in my house, huh?

Flint Hills Summer Fun Camp

Do you think they were excited to start summer camp?

Baseball Season 2013

This was the first year of kid pitch baseball for Tyson.  At the beginning of the year I thought this was going to be a terrible, boring year of baseball.  To my surprise it ended up being one of the most fun years we have had.  The kids improved so much, and Tyson ended the season with some great hits.  Tyson was the biggest cheerleader on the team as usual.  He just loves being part of a team.  He would stand in the batter's box, face the dugout, pump his arms up and down, and yell "cheer for Tyson!"  And you know what, they did, every time.  The hardest part of the year was entertaining Charlie because he really, really, really, really wanted to play.