Summertime

Summer time is always a harder one for Kodi actually all three of my boys. We try to keep some kind of schedule but it's hard. I feel that we are busier during the summer than we are during school, we have therapy for two out of the three boys, park days once a week (which I love 4 hours with the older two gone) swimming lesson's and it leaves us with 2 open days, but it becomes more like no open days, we try and fill the other two days with going to the beach and one day at a pool.  My kids would spend everyday at a pool or beach if I let them.
Swimming as become a great sensory outlet for us, it gives Kodi everything he is seeking. He wants to play baseball and we will be getting him into it but it's the end of the season and once we are stationed we will find him a team to play on. 

Kodi Kodi Kodi

Kodi is doing great he LOVES school and his teacher, he works hard and enjoys learning. He grades are great and he is working hard to do his best. His speech is coming along and he loves Tia his therapist, His OT is great he doesn't like that he has to miss school for OT and just wants this therapy with Rhonda to be shorter like Speech, but we do our best and he is coming along.
He is reading and loves it when he finds words he knows. I know that reading will be a harder task for him and we are doing our best to teach him and give him the tools he needs.
We are working with him and his reading we have many books that are the first reader book and we also are doing a program for dyslexia. He is learning and working hard.
I have been trying more calm down items or things for him. When he blows his top it's a good hour to 2 hour fight with screaming and meltdown. We put together a calm down jar that he likes but when he is so upset he hates it. I am rereading my books on SPD to see how I can better help him. He is such a sweet and wonderful boy and I know he loves his family.

Making Progress

I love when one of his therapist says "yes" he is making good progress. I felt so very wonderful to know that we are doing some thing right as his parents. As he grows older Kodi will be able to figure out what he needs.
Today we went to the zoo and all three boys did great, we were able to meet up with one of Kodi's friends from school and we had a great time. I love our Zoo it's big enough for us to walk around the whole zoo and be done in about an hour if we are fast. Kodi,KK and Mia all held hands while we walked and they all talked about the different animals, Lily and Kodi loved being together. I am hoping we are able to go to the baseball game with their family tonight. We will see our family is training for race down in Disney World, kodi likes to sit in the stroller and be with me while I run.

Time for OT and Speech again

We have been on a very long break from therapy, not by choice but because we left to go back to MN and we thought insurance was going cover The Therapy Place and after a long round about they won't, I still don't understand since we saw them before with the same insurance but whatever, we are finally now getting into therapy back here. Of course with summer coming along we have to wait another month before they can see us.
All three boys have been doing well, Kodi finished with Pre-k and is now offically my kindergartener. I am sad because he is growing up so very fast but he is making very good progress. We are trying to get him into another school and we will find out in August we also have orders for Indian Head and it is looking like we will be moving in January. I can't wait I am so very excited to be moving to a better place. Schools are better area is better from what I hear I just can't wait.
I am concerned that with our moving so very much how it will affect Kodi and my other two, it took us two years for Kodi to get used to us moving away from Mn and now we will have to start to talk more about moving again, at the same time that is what we signed up when my hubby joined the military. Once he makes Officer we won't be moving as much, still a long road ahead has to finish pre-med and than medical school but in the next 6 years it will happen.
Kodi is doing great a few melt downs and I can't see when he starts to get over done with things and we can plan on one day just "vegging" to get a hold of our selves again.

Summer time

We are now official parents of a kindergartner, and he is so very excited. Which now for us means summer time and huge amounts of playing outside. I love watching my kids grow up, to see them learn and become independent of me, or from me. I think we have done a great job of teaching our children to stand up for themselves and to let others know when they are not being nice.
I was also very proud to hear from other parents that Kodi was a huge friend to classmates. Kodi helped one of his now best friends talk better and be friendly. He has such an compassionate heart, he loves to make sure everyone is playing and will help out when he can.
I have given him a job for the next couple of weeks to help out his brother who is learning the ropes of using the potty. So far it's working. We will see.

It was the last day of school, and I am so very proud of how much Kodi has grown of this past year. Not only did he go and become a great friend to other children, but he looked forward to going to class everyday. I was told by his bestfriend's mom today that Kodi really helped their son and how grateful they were of him.

He is now ready for school, if we could move up our date for moving than we would and get him into his new school this fall. I am going to be homeschooling him this fall until we move, the school we are "zone" for his awful and they aren't willing to help him, we can't afford private school and we have orders for this March so I will be homeschooling him. I know he will do well with learning at home and being in his own comfort zone.
We are now having down time for it's Friday and we are always tired but the end of the week and I don't want to have a meltdown. He is doing such a wonderful job at karate, only one more week of hard work and he should be getting ready for a new belt. He has a goal of becoming an black belt and we are doing our best to get him there.
It's date night for us and we have found a wonderful babysitter, Kodi is so very excited to have her over again. I am so very blessed to have found her, she is a blessing from God for our family. We haven't been able to go out on dates since we have moved and we really need that little break and to know that we have found someone who we can trust and my boys like is wonderful.
I bought two weeks ago a job chart for our older boys and we have been making sure every night the chores are done and they get paid for it. They are saving for our trip this fall to Disney and my house is cleaner because of it. I love it!

Thursday and one more sleep night until Daddy comes!

It's been a crazy the last couple of days, with meltdowns over toys and not getting our way. Peyton the youngest brother having surgery and Daddy coming back all in one week. For me it's a lot I can only image for Kodi how hard is it to keep control of everything.

The meltdowns are getting worse but I think it because he is waiting for Daddy to come, or just don't like my rules whatever it was he didn't like it. I had to physically remove him from playing with toys and keep him away from his brother. It was General Conference this past weekend and I bought a new toys for the boys to share I got magatiles, which are magnetic blocks it is a HUGE hit with them, but Kodi loves to just keep them for him and not want to share. So instead of keeping the house quite enough for us to listen to GC I had to play keeper of the toys. But in the end it was all good.

It's getting nice enough outside for the boys to play and swing and it's great. All three love going outside. I noticed the other day that Kodi need some input so I ask all my kids to bear walk crab walk for frog jump down the hall and get ready for lunch. I even did it too! They loved it and lunch time was less crazy!

Friday is here and spring break

It was a hard day for Kodi, I am not sure why but it was a rough day. His morning started off great and than after lunch it just seemed to go down hill. We were suppose to go and see HOP, but as we were getting ready to go he was upset that grandma wasn't coming with us (she had to work and she was staying with the baby) but as we got to the car he had started whinning and complaning about the movie and wont' sit in his car. So I simply told him we wouldn't be going .Man that did not go over well. A full on fit had arrived, I haven't seen a fit like that for a while.

I think it took about an hour from start to finish, but by the end he was good and sad that he did not get to see the movie. I got him to go outside and swing for a bit and than played in the snow and water until he was soaking wet, but it seemed to get what he needed.

He also was very excited about the timer I got for him and his little brother, I am having trouble with getting them to do what needs to be done in a timely manner. He uses a timer just like this on at therapy so he knew what it does and how to work it. I also was able to brush him and he really enjoyed it. I am hoping to start the brushing program again with him tomorrow. Which means every 2 hours we are brushing for the first week and than goes down from there, but it really does seem to make a difference. I am going to try and get him to listen to his music again, I brought it with us just in case he would need it.

I am doing everything I can to help him with his sensory diet, it hard at times when he doesn't want to anything at all. But it's a day by day trial with him. Tomorrow is a new day and we will start over again.

The last day of school

Kodi was pretty happy since it was his last day of preschool here, which means in two weeks Daddy will be back with us and than we are heading back home. Now he is happy to be back with Daddy but at the same time is sad to be leaving his family here. He wants to stay and be with everyone, but doesn't want to be away from his dad.

We are making great process with his letters and learning and remembering them. I still will have him tested back in VA for ADHD but I don't think that is the underlying problem. But I could be wrong. He is so very excited to read and learn his letters and sounds. I have a lot of work ahead of me to help him but we can do it.

I took him to the doctor today, for he has a small bump on is left wrist and it turns out to be a cyst but nothing to worry about. In fact it went down from what it was last night, and he isn't complaining of the pain. So just rest and pain meds when it starts to hurt.

Monday

I am not sure why he feels the need to bother his brother and why his brother has to bother him back. Each morning it is the same, they eat breakfast together and than one starts to poke and than its all down hill from there.

It take all morning for me to get them ready for us to go tutoring and I feel like I am always telling them the same thing to get ready. But they just don't seem listen.

Kodi is working so very hard for Melissa he wants to learn he wants to do his best. I can hear Kodi jumping around to help him think better. Which in turn helps him think.

As spring comes the warmer it get and the more Kodi is able to be outside before he has tutoring and school and the more he is able to get the input he needs. After we left tutoring the boys ate lunch and than we took Kodi to school. Once I picked him up he played outside and became very crabby which I can't stand. But I just ignore him and he stops. We had FHE watched a living scripture movie and than talked about what we watched afterwards.

It was a good night and a good day!

The weekend

It was a fun filled weekend for my boys, I was very happy with how well Kodi did we spent most of the night at my sister's house on Friday I was watching her kids which meant 6 kids and one parent. I was excepting a meltdown when I was putting Kodi into the car since he had been sleeping for about an hour. He cried a little bit but was more sad, because he was cold and wanted to be in his bed. I was finally able to get into the car and drive.

The next morning we got up the older boys went to bank to with Grandma than we went to the children's museum with 9 kids and 4 adults. I was excepting for Kodi to meltdown in the middle but he didn't. I am thinking that with all the running around and jumping that he was getting some good input. We also took a break to eat and settle down, I also had him play in the water room which is always calming to him. I also noticed, he would go by himself into a quieter area just for a little bit and than come back out and play. He is getting better at regulating when he needs a break.

Sunday is always the same church and a day at home, just one little meltdown after church because I didn't get his bread the way he wanted it to be. I just left him alone, walked away and let him me. It took about 10 minutes and than he was done.

Thursday

Another day and so far it's been a great day, Kodi is such a sweet boy and when we are having a good day that shows so very much. We have been working on use nice words when we are anger and how we need to make he "right" choice.

I am surprised that when he is not getting the input his body needs he is able to let me know and we are able to find what he needs. We are getting better at ready his body language better. We got some good news about the public school he is suppose to go to next year. It's not a very good school and I don't want him in that school at all. Anyway since we never enrolled him he will be able to go somewhere else. Now if we can find a public school that is good and we don't have to give proof that he is in Daycare in that district than we are good to go.

If I could we would just stay here in MN but that is not possible at all. We need to be a family and if Daddy is not deployed why be away from each other. The boys miss him so very much and can't wait to be back with him. Kodi is not able to go to bed at night unless he gets a story from Aaron which usually ends up with Kodi sleeping and Aaron reading a story, but he is reading and Kodi loves it.

Reading is becoming a huge hit with Kodi he loves me to read and he loves to pick out letter. I can' t wait for more of the reading to come into play.

Wednesday

We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow and of course all three of my boys have an awful cough, one with double ear infection. So when Kodi was coughing like he was dying I thought ok it's time to take him in. But thankfully he is able to clear out what is in his chest when he coughs and isn't running any fevers so no meds for my boy :)

He is actually having a good day and was very excited for school and to brush his teeth. We have been working hard on teach him how to keep his body clean and healthy. I love when he is getting the input he needs and I can hear him laughing and is so very happy.

He and I were both very happy to find that more and more food companies are putting less dyes in foods and using natural ways to color the products. He loves Goldfish crackers but the colored ones had the dyes in them so I never bought them, but today we were looking and it said "Now colors from Natural ingredients" so I looked and sure enough no dyes. Of course we had to get them. We also were looking at popsilces and found the same thing, so we got them as well. Now if we can figure out how to make orange soda without the red and yellow dyes than life would be grand.

We will see what the rest of our day is when he gets home. But so far it's a great day in the life of Kodi.

Tuesday

I am trying to be better at bloging and make sure that I keep a record for Kodi and the rest of my family. I was amazed that this morning my two older boys let me sleep in and I did not wake up to hearing them fit. Kodi also is once again sleeping in his bed, which I love since we are visiting family and are not in our own house. I was for a while have all three boys in bed in with and I was the one who did not sleep.

I have noticed that Kodi is getting sick like the rest of my family and is able to process this a little better. He went to his appt with this tutor and she listened to what I had to say about his SPD and when wasn't able to focus to have him jump,bear walk, push the wall, move the table basically do some heavy input and it would make a difference. I was trying to get some heavy input before we went to see her but it was raining outside and last night was the first night I got some good sleep.

But he did do very well for her and listened, I could hear him jumping and answering her question. Which made me very happy. I also made some floor blocks for his feet so he was grounded while he did some table work.

We than headed back home for lunch before school and of course his younger brother decided it would be fun torture him with a pickel. Yes a pickel Kodi hates the smell and everything about pickels.Once that was over we left for school and the rest of his day was great. He loves school and his teachers we will be sad when we return to VA

Many Months of fun

Not quite sure when the last time I was able to sit down and write a blog, but with the snow melting and only one little boy in the house I am taking a few moments to write. Kodi did a wonderful job with the visit back home, and we are only seeing a couple meltdowns. He is able to be in preschool school 3 times aweek, the hard part is that since we are only back in MN for 2 1/2 months we were not able to get into any therapy, for two reasons, the first one is that our insurance will of course only be accepted at a clinic that we have never been seen at and second they didn't have any treatment time or any slots open to test him. I had it all worked out with The Therapy Place for treatment and he was very excited to go back and see everyone. I must have spent a week working on why the insurance wasn't allowing him to go back. Now we could have paid out of pocket, but we just don't have that kind of money.

We also found a friend who tutors kids with Dyslexia, who is helping Kodi so very much. We are finding that he does in fact have most of the red flags for Dyslexia and what she is doing will help him greatly. My Aunt is also helping Kodi with writing and he loves that she come over to do school.

As for keeping him balanced I am still working on that, it's a hard battle for me each and every day. But we keep going and keep doing our best.

Trying to manage

Trying to manage lately for Kodi and I, has proved actually pretty good. We are finding our balance and I am finding the best way to help him. Being in OT is really helping and he is doing a great job. I love that when he is starting to meltdown and lose it, I get down to his eye level and in a calm voice tell him he has two choices, one to choose the right and do what we are asking and the second choice would be to meltdown. I simply say choose the right, and walk away so he has time to make his choice, and it's working.

He is doing great at school, we did have a mishap at school of Wednesday, Daddy brought the wrong swim suit to school and he had a major issue over it, plus he was up the night before way to late, anyway it took a lot and he was late to school, but I finally got him calmed down and in school and I did let his teacher know if he was going to havea fit over the swimsuit than it was ok if he didn't go swimming. I prayed thathe would just change and be ok, and he was no issues when we picked him up and he did great.

Music to his ears

Our first day of OT was good, not sure what he did since all he told me was they were in the kitchen making a spider and doing music. No swing or playing just sitting and doing a spider. I do know he was calm and happy when we got home.
We are now listening to a new theraputic listening CD Rhythem and Rhyme he likes it and will actually listen twice a day. I do love how the music really does help him and I can tell just from the first day that it was and is working. He is a much happier and calm kid. He doesn't seem to get upset as fast.
I went to a girls night out on friday night, for a 31 purse party and had to bring my boys since hubby was at a scouting camp out. We had a nice time and at the end of the crazy night I was doing my best to avoid a melt down and Kodi had choosen to listen and came down to get ready. A friend of mine was a little to pushy with Kodi and wasn't listening to him and he just lost it. He really likes just mommy to help him and I didn't mind helping him at all. It was as simple as putting his shoes on and than getting out to the car.
So my no melting down turned into a whole show and a crying child. Needless to say I wasn't happy and I had to step in and take care of my little boy. He was so unhappy and upset that she was not listening to him. Everything was calm by the time we got home and he went straight to sleep.
My friend call the next day and felt very bad for trying to help and getting Kodi all upset. Which was very nice, I know she was trying to help and I need to let my friends know that when I need the help I will ask. Kodi and I have a very special way to doing our daily tasks and some may think I am crazy for giving him help since he is 5 or that I give him to much help, but I don't care. I know what my son needs and how he works. I know that he needs more time to process what is going on and how much I do need to help him.
It is hard being a military family and meeting new people every time we get a new duty station, and I am very good at telling people that his has SPD and how we work. I just need people to listen. If we all just listened to others the world would be a much different place.

A week in Review

The past couple of weeks have been crazy for us, dealing with sick kids and grandma coming, and not to mention Halloween. Seasons are changing and we all know what that means, sickness with the changing seasons. Now the cold we are dealing with is one that has been in our home for a while and it doesn't seem to matter how long I have the windows open to air out the house, or how much I clean the house it seems to stay here. I am thankful that we have not had to take our youngest to the ER for croup.

It was wonderful to have Gma as I call her, here with us for a couple of days, the boys loved waking up to seeing her each morning. It was a sad day when she had to leave and Kodi really missed her, enough to have two meltdowns and it finally came out that he really missed Gma and all his family back in MN.

We finally had the IEP meeting to tell me he did not qualify for help in school which we already knew, and it was a big waste of time. I just pray that we will have different orders by next fall and won't be in this stinking state anymore.

He also has started OT again we have only been in once to see her and she started him on the music therapy again, so far it has made a big difference and he is actually listening to his music twice a day. Life is finally getting getting good again and we are able to see our happy little boy.

Week 2 of school

His second week of school is over and he is doing so very well. I know that I shouldn't be amazed with how a routinue works, but I still am. It came to the end of the week and we only had on meltdown, and it wasn't a major one. We are still doing the water ballons and that works great, he is able to get his anger out and able to use the engery in a positive way instead of hurting me or Aaron.
We had the school finally test him in OT and Speech and of course they are waiting to the very last weeks to do the testing. So we went and are continuing with the testing. I am pretty sure he won't get any help from the school for his test scores are normal, and what they are not seeing is that yes on paper he is doing great but when you talk to him and see him in the classroom it's different.
He has started speech outside of the school and like going, I just can't wait for his OT to start, we have so much going right now that it's hard to keep all the appointments straight. We also are still doing karate and he is doing great in that, I just have to make sure we get to class twice a week. This week we only are making it once, next week will have to be better.
One problem in our house is that the boys love to watch tv together, we have had many fights with our boys over turning the tv off and we are working on it, this week has actually been a great week both boys are turning the TV with no problems and listening. Which than they get a penny for no fits and no issues on listening to us. Their money jar is helping so much and they are learing that money doesn't just grow in my purse or daddy's wallet. If the boys want something like a toy they have to I ask do you have enough money for that and Kodi looks and tells me "no, I need to save more" so it's working and he is learning.
We have a pea box for the boys to play in and they are loving it, but I am finding little peas all over my house. I can't seem to escape from them at all. All their friends love playing with the peas. It's a nightly picking with peas and the worst part is that my vaccum is broken.

Melt down city

I can't seem to figure out why he is having so many melt downs. I don't understand why he is falling apart and it's not just one or two, it's two twice a day or three times a day. I don't know if it is because he has started school or if it's that he is getting into a rountine with school or what is going on, but we are having issues. The scarey thing is that I can't control him when he is out of control. He is getting bigger and stronger and I can't stop him.
I worry so much about him and how he is doing, but I am doing everything I can to help him, but it doesn't seem like it's enough. It's been a day and I am emotional drained, I need a good night's sleep and be ready for tomorrow. I pray that tomorrow will be a little better.