Updated... again

I've been blogging less in the past week or two... mainly because I've been busy with the kids and all of our fun activities, but also because I've had a hard time sitting down to blog. 


I have too many things on my mind. 


Way too many things. 


So, I open up my blogger account and stare at the empty screen until I just decide that I can't start a post without it connecting with another post that I have yet to write. So... I just don't write. 


I hate not writing. For many reasons, but mainly because I love to write things in the moment, while they are fresh and full of raw, real emotion. I don't like my posts that are about things that happened two weeks ago. Typically, they are missing the emotion and "feel" of the moment. 


So, I am now going to write some posts that aren't exactly going to go down in the books as my favorites. 


:) 


One of the things that I'm sure all of you are wondering about is Jake's speech evaluation. I haven't posted a blog about it because I've been waiting for his "results" to come in the mail. It's been a week and we still have yet to hear. I'm hoping that the mailbox has some good news today... will post it if it does. :) His evaluation seemed to go really well. He was hilarious in it. As I've indicated before, Jake isn't big on reading or writing or drawing or basically anything that involves him to "work." He's much more interested in playing with his figures and making them all fight or make friends. :) He knows his colors, shapes, etc., but doesn't really like to participate in activities where he has to recall them. Usually, he'll get through about two questions before he says, " I not do this anymore." So when the therapist pulled out a flipchart-style book to go through with Jake, I thought, "Well, this is it. They'll have him diagnosed as a mute before it's all over." :) He did really well. He did really, really well in Jake terms. :) He made it like 15 minutes in before he put his head on his hand, took a deep sigh, and rubbed his forehead like he was exhausted. Gosh... Kindergarten will be rough for him. :) He proceeded to act like he didn't know what a drum was because he was too lazy to even say it to her. Funny to us now, but it won't be later. We know. :) Fortunately, Brad and I were able to tell the therapist that he does indeed know what many of those items were, but that he was just being lazy. We also were able to coach him and tell him to think and respond. When we talked to the therapist at the end, she seemed very positive. She seemed to say that he did need some help with enunciation and use of certain words, but I'm not sure that it was bad enough to warrant a daily program or anything. So, we'll see. We don't have official news, so it's hard to say what will actually happen, but overall, we felt pretty positive about it. And, he seemed to feel pretty confident about it, too. We really made a big deal about how good he did, so hopefully that helped him feel more secure, which is what all of this is about.


School starts in about two weeks for my oldest baby. I was expecting to feel like an empty-nester when Bailey hit this point, but I'm really looking forward to it. Haha, I know you are all thinking that I'm just looking forward to some peace and quiet while she is in school. :) Yes, partly true. But, mainly I'm excited about it because she is SO excited about it. We have Kindergarten evaluation on Friday, where they evaluate where she is to gauge what she knows, etc. Then, we have Open House on Monday, August 9, where she will see her school, classroom, and cubby. I know she's going to be nervous that night... as will I. But, then, she'll be all keyed up on the first day (the following Wednesday) to get into that room and add her two cents to everything. :) It's bittersweet in a lot of ways. I can't believe she's already grown this much. I can't believe that in 5 more years, she'll be going to a middle school. It's just unbelievable. But, it is fun to see her in this phase of her life. She'll learn so much, including how to spell all of the things that I currently spell out to friends and family so she won't know what I'm talking about (darn). She'll grow into less of a baby and more of a little girl. And, while we might feel like we are losing part of her (the baby), we will gain so much more in a mini-adult (is this really a good thing?). :) 


School also starts for my other baby in a few weeks, too. You know... my baby brother. Last week, I spent a day with him, reliving my college years, when I took him to his freshman orientation. We had a good time. I have to admit that I hated the part where everyone looked at me and wondered, "Is that his mom? His girlfriend?" Yep. Either way, it was equally as bad. I was either a really young mom or a really old cougar. At least one person did ask me if I was a transfer student (thank you, mister, for making me feel like I at least look somewhat like I could still be in college). Other than that whole awkwardness... we were able to get him set up in classes, get his financial aid situated, check out where he classes would be, etc. I love doing all of that stuff. I know, I am a complete dork, but I swear, if I could have a job where all I did was take kids to look at different campuses all over the region, I would totally do that. :) I have a blast looking at all of it. I think I just love that feeling of change... of starting something new. I just love that feeling of a fresh start. You'd think I have a horrible life that would make me love that feeling, but I don't. I just love feeling like there's so much potential and so many fun adventures to be had. :) 


So, that's what's been taking up most of my time for the last week. That and a few other things that I'm going to post about soon. :) Yep... soon... procrastinator. :)