Busy Tuesday

Today we were out the door by 8:15am, all of us, which is very unusual. We went to the cities (90 min drive) to pick up a vehicle Dan got for his sister through his parents. Grabbed that and got back home before 11:30. The boys did pretty good, we brought the dvd player and some toys with. A couple stops to feed Gabriel and he was pretty happy.

We didn't get to stay home for long, we had ECFE class at 12:30, so we ate and left again just after noon. Had a great time in class. Gabriel was getting a bit fussy from being woke up early. I thought for sure he'd nap in the van, but he didn't! He did have fun though, he went in the swing and played in a tub of water. We brought Dawson to his classroom at 1 and he went fairly willingly thankfully. We had a nice chat with the moms in the group. We seperate for parent time and the kids (except Gabriel) stay in the class.

After class I took Bali (my friend's 2 year old boy) home with us. His mom has a really bad ear infection and was getting dizzy in class. I used to get really bad ear infections too and I remember clearly how horrible it was! So he got to come home with us so his mom could go home and get some rest. Something nobody gets to do with a 2 year old around. I got home and put them both down for a nap, which they both willingly cooperated and slept for nearly 2 hours! I even got to take a shower! Imagine that. I had planned on it earlier during my first short time at home, but then the maintenance guy said he was going to come and fix our carpet during that time, so I didn't want to take a shower if he was going to be showing up. Of course he didn't until an hour later when I was gone. Figures.

Dawson got home at 4:30 and we left at 4:45. Met someone in the Target parking lot from a kid's swap group (like craigslist) and got a bunch of summer things for Dawson. Then took the kids into Target for a few things. They were great! We had a runaway shopping cart with Gabriel inside, which was a slight heart attack, but all is well and nobody got hurt. I had the cart sideways against the slight incline, against the van so it couldn't move. While I was putting the other 2 in the van, Gabriel managed to shove the cart away from the van and it turned and took off down the hill. Thankfully I saw right away and managed to get out of the van and catch it before it got past the car next to us. Whew! Never a dull moment shopping with these kids it seems! I guess I'll be piling them all in the van, then doing the buckling from now on!

I always get some funny looks while running errands with the 3 kids. I have my blonde hair, blue eyed, pale skinned baby, and the dark curly haired, chocolate colored 2 year old. I just think it's amusing. This little guy is so adorable and I'm glad he likes us. He had a very tough life as a baby and has PTSD and most likely Autism, so he's one who must be handled with much sensitivity. He and Gabriel are rather attached. He gives Gabriel hugs and kisses and Gabriel follows him around. They were gone for a week to Iowa and I found Gabriel looking at a box of diapers. We have several diaper boxes and they each have a baby on them, but the one Gabriel kept going to looked a lot like Bali! I thought it was so cute that he was missing his buddy.

Speaking of buddies, the boys got to play with the girls today too! It was our date night, so we dropped them off and went to Applebees. We still have about 2 more suppers worth of gift cards to that place! So yummy. Gabriel took a nap at their place. His poor little buddy didn't get to play with him. He is a couple months older than Gabriel and so adorable! His dad told me that the little guy went in and was patting Gabriel on the back as he was falling asleep. So sweet! He's gonna be an awesome big brother in a month. :) 

Tomorrow morning we have Dawson's Autism Center team coming in for a meeting to discuss his progress and goals for the next 6 months. We're also renewing our lease tomorrow and Dan has a pre-interview test at Artic Cat, which is just down the road maybe 10 minutes away from us! Fingers crossed that he gets the job. I'm excited for it, the pay is good! He is nervous, but confident. Lots of things coming up in the next week! MOPS, ECFE, more babysitting, my Scentsy party, Gabriel's birthday party, it's going to be lots of busy crazy fun.

Yesterday was Dawson's first dentist appt. He did great and opened up wide for the first lady. He cooperated through the whole cleaning. The Dr came in and he was ready to be done. He bit the Dr a couple times so they decided on no x-rays, but his teeth look good. No cavaties! He must've swallowed everything they gave him though. They gave him the water and he swallowed before the suction. He was squirming and fussing on the way to the car but I figured he was just ready to be done. Then he threw up in the car on the road. Poor little guy. He was much better after that though and seemed relieved to have that stuff out of his belly. I took his carseat in and gave it a good cleaning. It sure needed it too! Crumbs and stickers under the padding. Managed to get the seat clean with no stains and it smells good too. I got some pics since the seat was in. Some people were wondering how much room he still has in his carseat. He has the Graco Nautilus. We love it! He's 42 pounds and 42 inches tall.

 This shows how much room he has left with the harness! He'll be in it for a while yet. :)  Good thing too, I have a booster for him as a spare and he's definitely not ready for it yet. He keeps putting the shoulder belt behind him and doesn't want to sit still. Not safe! So I'm glad that this will last him until he is older and more understanding of those things.

My view from the couch. I love all the natural light that comes in! It's so relaxing and mood lifting. Also makes the place seem bigger. We had no window in our living room at the other place and it felt like we were living in a cave. I don't like having lamps as our only light! And yes, we still have icicle lights on our window. We've been a bit slow at undecorating, especially those things we've been enjoying.