To God Be the Glory

Today was Beau's first day of speech! 

When Beau wakes up with his "sneaky eyes" you  know it will be a great day!

He started his day with a bagel (covered in peanut butter and cream cheese...gotta get those calories where we can) and a piece of string cheese! 

Then it was time to brush our teeth and get ready to go!

All ready! 

When we arrived, Beau spent a few minutes exploring the waiting area.  He was immediately interested in the cars on this table.  It was a good way to ease into the session.

The speech therapist has 20 years experience working with children Beau's age and she had a wonderful disposition for working with him.  You could tell she is a "teacher" at heart.  Her office was inviting with lots of toys.  We spent most of our time sitting on the floor playing games.  

During this time, she was able to evaluate Beau's speech and establish goals.  He was of course quieter than he is at home, but he did not cry! Did you hear that? Praise the Lord he did not cry! He engaged with her and played her games.


The games we played today included:

Candy Land Castle Game 

Weebles Treehouse 

Cranium Cariboo 

Here is an article I found about adapting this game for speech.  (I know all about taking all sorts of games and adapting them to teach a certain skill.  Teachers do this all the time!)

 Thomas track and trains

After working with Beau during today's session here are our first goals:

Speech: 

Final Consonants: p, m, t, and s

Ending sound: /ee/ (ex. teddy, honey, happy, funny)

Language: 

Use pronouns I, me, and my appropriately. 

I consider today's session to be a huge success because Beau participated and did not get too scared.  I was with him the whole time, but he didn't sit in my lap.  He did start saying "all done" towards the last 10 minutes of the session.  He also said "back car" meaning he was ready to go back to the car and go home! Ha!

We came home and both boys had a nap.  One of Beau's favorite new activities is helping me get Palmer out of the crib after his nap.  In fact, Beau likes to climb up in the crib with Palmer and just have "brother time" for a few minutes! 

To God be the glory for a great first day! 

Starting Speech

Tomorrow is a big day for little Beau.  We are starting speech, or "talking school" as we might call it.  Here are a few of my thoughts on the night before our first session:

• If you are not nice to Beau, we will not be back.
• Beau has a sensitive heart and I will protect that above all else.
• In order for Beau to "perform" he has a deep desire to feel safe.  It may take several weeks worth of sessions for Beau to feel comfortable.  That is just his sweet disposition.  
• We do not want to "fix" Beau.  He is perfect, just the way he is.  But I do want to give him all the resources he needs to succeed.  It is a fine line.
• Coming from the teaching profession, I have very high standards for others in the education field.
• We will do our part and practice every strategy we are given.    
• Teddy will also be going to talking school! We don't leave home without teddy.
• I will be going back to therapy with Beau until he is 100% comfortable.  If that means I always go back with him, then that is what we will do.  If the therapist isn't cool with that, we will find a new therapist.  
• We may do speech a long time.  We may do speech a short time.  We will just have to see.  
• You are going to ROCK it Beau!  Talking school, here we come! 

I miss you dad

"Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest… The difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by -- who sings from the heart… Lay me upon the bed of languishing, and how shall I then chant God's high praises, unless He Himself give me the song? No, it is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip… Then, since our Maker gives 'songs in the night,' let us wait upon Him for the music" ~ Charles Spurgeon

What are you fighting for?

What are you fighting for?  

We are all fighting for something, right?  My friend April is fighting to bring her son home from Korea.  

Check out the awesome t-shirt she has designed!

Hop on over to April's blog and read all about the story that led to this t-shirt design!  And while you are there, consider buying a t-shirt or two! 

Three Years and (almost) Three Months

Last month while we were in Birmingham, Brandon and Stacey were so gracious to take some pictures of Beau and Palmer. Beau had just turned three years old and Palmer was one week shy of his 3rd month. Without further adieu, here are some amazing shots of Beau at 3 years and Palmer at (almost) 3 months!

All Smiles

Playroom Inspiration

Recently Raleigh and I have been talking about creative play space solutions.  We do not have a basement or bonus room so right now, we pretty much have toys everywhere.  They are all somewhat organized into baskets, etc but I am getting the itch to have all the toys in a central location.

Our house does have a living room and dining room, and we have turned what would be the living room into a formal office for Raleigh.  Slowly, the office is "morphing" into a playroom.  The downside of this is that it is the first room you see when you walk into our house.  One idea that we are playing around with is turning the garage into a playroom.  We think it could be achieved pretty affordably with a fresh coat of paint, inexpensive carpet, and some creative storage for the tools and lawn equipment.

All that to say, we are just exploring options for a designated "playroom" for the boys to be creative, make memories, and have a little freedom without constantly having toys everywhere.

My friend from Samford, Marcie, has some awesome playroom ideas and she was generous enough to blog about it here!  Check out her awesome playroom!!!  Thanks Marcie for sharing your ideas!

Let's Hear it For the Teachers

If you have school-aged children, you probably have new teachers in your lives this time of year!  Teachers work long, hard hours preparing for these little ones that they grow to love throughout the year.  (Sure, there are some lazy teachers, but don't let one bad experience ruin it for the rest of them out there who are working their tails off!)

I'm sure most of you already make sure your child's teachers feels valued and appreciated, but if you are looking for some new ideas, this list is for you.

I taught kindergarten for seven years before becoming a mom, and I think I'm learning that you can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can't the teacher out of the girl.....or something like that!  It has been fun incorporating a few learning moments into Beau's days now that he is older and has a longer attention span!

Here are few ideas that are sure to add a little joy to the start of the school year for your child's teacher:

• Sit down and hand write a note...a sentence or two will do!  Just say that you are looking forward to a great year together.

• Have your child draw a picture or write a note to the teacher thanking them for preparing such a warm and inviting classroom.  

• Stick a $5 Starbucks card in your child's folder one day for the teacher! (or Chick-fil-a or Panera or whatever...but you get the point)

• Even better, show up with the teacher's favorite drink and drop it off!  Note...when dropping off the drink, do not linger.  Teachers have every minute of the school day accounted for.  Your drink will be VERY appreciated, but the teacher may not have time to chit chat during the day, especially at drop-off time or dismissal time.  Not saying that in a rude way, just being honest.  

• When the teacher does something you appreciate, send a "thank you" email and copy the principal and assistant principals on the email.  The administration can sometimes be slightly detached from the daily ins and outs of each classroom, so it is always nice when they hear that one of their teachers is doing a particularly great job.  

• Once every month or two, ask the teacher if there are any classroom needs....more bandaids, glue sticks, lysol wipes, etc.  It is always nice to not have to spend your very small, hard-earned paycheck on school supplies.  Let's be honest, all teachers spend their very small, hard-earned money on school supplies, but if you offer to help out occasionally, it is always appreciated! 

• Offer to cut out lamination.  Throughout the year, your child's teacher is laminating miles of stuff...from sight word cards to behavior logs to phonics games, etc.  And all of that lamination has to be meticulously cut out.  Send a quick note and offer to help! This is an easy way you can help from home at night or over a weekend! 

• Give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.  You will not always agree with the teacher.  Even the very best teachers make mistakes.  I'm sure that parents questioned some of the things I did, but there was always some very logical reason behind the decision.  I did my very best to put the needs of the students first and I'm sure your child's teacher is doing the same.  (ex. On the first day of school, I asked parents to say their goodbyes at the classroom door.  As a parent, this would be incredibly hard for me.  But as a teacher, I still agree that it was the best way to do it.  Teaching 25 little treasures how to complete their morning routines is hard work that needs to start on the first day.  But it is impossible work with 25 little ones and 25-50 parents in the room.  Will I want to walk Beau in on his first day of kindergarten? Of course!!! But I will absolutely do my very best to honor the teacher and the requests she makes of the parents, knowing that she probably has a good reason for any guideline that is in place.)  Assume the best about your child's teacher.  But of course do not be afraid to politely speak up if you have concerns! You know your child best and sometimes rules are made to be broken if something just isn't feeling right.  

• Show up on time.  If you have signed up to chaperone a field trip, host a holiday party, have a conference, etc, please show up on time.  Show the teacher that you value his or her time as much as you value your own.  If you know you are going to be late for a scheduled event, just send the teacher a quick email so that he or she can plan accordingly.

Let me just say, I was immeasurably blessed to always have lovely parents who went above and beyond to make sure I felt loved and appreciated!  

Like I said before, I'm sure all of you already do so much to make your child's teacher feel loved, but these are just a few extra ideas!  Happy school year!  Make it a great one!  

These Are a Few of my Favorite Things

I love when other bloggers share their favorite things. Sometimes I learn about a new product I haven't tried. Here are some things I'm loving right now!

MAC Studio Fix pressed powder

I love this stuff! I have been using it since college and it never disappoints.

NARS ** blush

The color has a bit of a naughty name, but if you are familiar with NARS, I'm sure you know the one.  It is the perfect blend of peach and pink.  It has a little shimmer, without being too glittery.  It works well in all seasons, with or without a tan.  

Shout Advanced

With three boys in the house, we use a lot of stain remover.  This seems to work really well.  When the stains seem really nasty, I soak it in this Shout and add a scoop of Oxy Clean directly to the item and make a little paste.  Stains, stains, go away! 

Aden and Anais swaddling blankets
These are amazing! I absolutely love them and will recommend them to any expectant mom or adoptive mom of a baby.  They are so soft and thin.  Great for summer.  We use them nightly to swaddle Palmer.  Additionally, I've used them as a stroller cover, sun shade, tummy time mat, nursing cover, etc.  They are definitely worth the money, in my opinion.

Gap Colored Skinny Jeans

I LOVE these jeans for Beau! They are awesome because they have an adjustable (hidden) waist.  Beau's waist is really small...like 12 month clothes still fit him in the waist.  Last Fall/Winter he wore 12-18 month Gap pants.  I need to try them on and see if they still fit, but I'm thinking that just maybe he will have moved on up to the 18-24 month size.  

Magna-Tiles

Before becoming a mom, I was a kindergarten teacher.  My students (both boys and girls) loved creating geometric shapes with these magnetic tiles.  Beau recently received a set for his birthday and he loves exploring with them.  I love this toy because it encourages creativity and problem-solving.  Another benefit is that it engages kiddos at various ages...toddlers to elementary school kids can all enjoy this toy.  We definitely plan to add to Beau's collection.  They are a bit expensive, but very durable.  

Lysol wipes 

I know these are not environmentally friendly, but I sure do love them!