Im Getting Behind Again!

Yadda, yadda....there really isn't anything like nagging yourself to finish what you start! I guess since Ella is getting older it's a bit harder to jump on the computer and well...lets face it...sleep is precious to me...Hehe.

So, we have had a whole lot of stuff going on around here, January, February, and almost March! I wish I can slow time down...just a little, everything is happening way to fast!

Ella is doing great, her and I just got over some seriously bad cold bugs, hers lasted a bit over 3 weeks and mine turned into a nasty sinus infection (lucky me!) But nothing that alittle anti-biotics and good 'ol Vicks couldn't handle. We are doing much better now though!

Valentines Day was a lot of fun, we decided to spend it as a family instead of doing the romantic thing like dinner, movies, and wine (oh how I miss wine...) But all in all we had lot's of fun taking Ella out and eventually ending up at the Library (Somehow I con Brad into going with me since I don't like going alone) I even dressed Ella up for our day of fun..

The lease on our house ended, we had to make a pretty swift decision if we were going to move or not, we've been looking for a bigger house closer to Brads work for a while now, but we just haven't found anything affordable! Seriously $1,500-$1,800 a month for a 3 bedroom?! We might as well buy a house at those prices! Which eventually we want to do, but we're holding off until Brad's Apprenticeship is over and we have a better idea of where we want to live and raise our family. Only a couple more years to go! So we were faced with the dilemma either sign another lease or move, eventually we compromised and signed a 6 month lease thinking that will buy us some more time to look around, well....I will be due at the same time....bad idea...looks like we're signing another 6 month lease in July anyway since no one or nothing is going to make me pack and move when I look like a hippo! So, we're going to be squeezing our little family into a 2 bedroom for now, hey, at least it's nice and cozy! :)

Ella has been a very active little girl lately, I've had to bundle her off to the park every other day to get some energy ran out of her, she loves to run! When the weather cooperates I like to let her run around the back yard too, but we're trying to get over the 10 minute tantrum she throws when we have to bring her back in. We just finished swim lessons, she didn't quiet take to those as much as I thought she would have, shes not lugging her Paci's with her anymore (thank god!) but we are still struggling to get rid of the bottle before bedtime. Shes in 24 month shirts because her torso is so long, her clothes just hang off of her! She's in 18 month pants if I roll the top part down, but she fits into 12 month pretty comfortably. Shes in the 90% for her height at 30% for her weight! Man I wish I was her! :) Shes such a sweet little girl though, she loves to clap, Cuddle with mommy or daddy, throw her ball, stack blocks, color on the walls, flip through her books, climb on everything, meet new people, and she's got the weirdest obsession with shoes..

On the other hand we've voiced some concern with our Pediatrician regarding her speech, she still only had about 3-4 words and I am not sure she even knows what they are: "Mama", "Dada", "Baba", and "Yeah". She can follow commands to an extent like "can you shut that?" "Brush your hair" and so on...but she hasn't really tried to say anything. We were referred to a Infant/Toddler Interventionist, she came in and did a one hour assessment of Ella, watching her play, listening to her and asking us specific questions. The odd thing was is that she is scoring At her age or above on the Cognitive (ability to learn) Physical (Ability to move, see, and hear) and Adaptive ( Ability to dress, eat, and take care of yourself) She scored at 15 months (she's 16) on Social or Emotional (Ability to relate to others) and she scared at 9 months on Communication (Ability to understand language and express needs). So it's pretty obvious that she is behind, which the interventionist said she could just be a bit shy, late, OR there is something preventing her from expressing herself. We are again referred to a specialty school that is going to come out and do more tests including a hearing test and we are going to be setting up a learning plan for her including a speech therapist. I can't help but wonder if she's just a late talker though because she's not in daycare and doesn't really need to talk to anyone else besides Brad or I. On top of that we've also noticed some other differences between Ella and other kids her age she likes to stuff her mouth, eat lemons, pickles, I caught her eating a freshly diced onion, other things that kids might find to strong of taste. She also shakes and tenses up when she hears a dog barking, the vacuum, a saw, or anything really loud. She squints in regular light and other abnormalities, we've also brought this up and it's pretty obvious that Ella may have a Over-Sensory problem which could have occurred after her hard birth, we just aren't sure and probably will never know for sure. The only way to help it is really to wait for her to grow out of it and therapy, helping her learn how to get her over sensitivity so she can learn. All in all we are hoping for the best outcome for Ella and are going to be learning ways to help her learn, just in the past week we've noticed a huge change in her reactions to situations and her communication. Hopefully she continues this upward path! :)

Whew! That was a lot of typing! Brad is doing great, he never got sick like the rest of us did, probably from taking massive amounts of Vitamin C ever since he heard a sniffle come out of Ella. Baby #2 and I are doing well, hopefully we find out the sex soon, we are looking forward to the Ultrasound, although my nurse told me that the Dr. has been wanting to wait until 24 weeks,I might go crazy if I have to wait until then so Im going to charm him into setting the appointment at 20 weeks no later that 22...hehe... but we're not sure if we are going to keep it a secret or not!