Early Education

Korben was accepted to the early education school this week. WOOHOO! He had to re-do all the evaluations that we had done at the developmental rehab. because the school district has a different standard of testing. I wasn't surprised that he was accepted in every area since I already had the results of the other tests, but it was nice to get the official acceptance on Tuesday.

I don't know exactly how many days a week he will be going yet, but he is on the afternoon schedule that is a 3 hour block from 12:20-3:20. The neat thing is that they pick him up in a bus (with seat belts for all the kids) and also bring him home, so I don't have to drive him across town to get him there. He will eat lunch at school as well, so no worries about him getting hungry. And the very best part: IT IS FREE! They are currently working up his Individual Education Plan and he should be starting school sometime in the next 30 days.

Some of you have asked if I am nervous to send him to school, and although I have little worry moments about how he will do, I know that this is what is best for him and am excited for all of the concentrated effort he is going to have on his part. I have a few friends who have had children attend this school and have excelled from it. I know this is the first step in helping Korben get on the right track so am way more excited than nervous. That being said, it was really weird filling out school registration forms for my 3 year old. I didn't plan on doing that for another 3 years. :)

I'll keep updates coming as I find out more info.

Growing Up

The boys are growing up. It's not like this is a new thing, but it really hit me today that they are growing up and it is happening without me even noticing. It has probably come on so suddenly because both of them grew out of their clothes at the same time. Logan is now in 18-24 month clothes and Korben has moved to 4T. It is weird to see Logan wearing the clothes that I swear Korben just grew out of, and then I realize that there are 2 tupperwares of clothes in between those sizes and I'm wondering where that time went.

Some Korben progress:

Korben has been making huge strides in language lately. He is at the stage where he repeats pretty much everything. He loves to sing; his favorites right now are Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and Happy and You Know It. His cutest phrases are: "It's too big"(too big applies to anything that is too big, too small, is under something, or is hard to get to), "Drink a Water"(although he has stopped asking and just pulls a chair to the fridge and gets his own now), "Throw me in the sack"(when he wants Daddy to launch him in the love sac), and "Spinning the rope" (he twirls his chew tube). I know all of this is typical of a child that is learning to speak...all the cute things etc. But for Korben I feel like everything he says is a huge accomplishment and makes me so happy I have to share...

Mike wrote a post about "pop up words" that are characteristic of autistic kids. They are words or phrases that seem to just pop out on occasion but are never really heard again. The other day this happened when Korben brought me a toy and I said, "Thanks" and he said, "No Problem". I laughed so hard because we haven't taught him that, but I say it all the time. I haven't been able to get him to say it again though, so I'm assuming it was a pop up phrase.

Korben eating his "Paw-sickle"
A funny side note: Korben is saying, "Cheese" in this photo. He just figured out that when we say "cheese", we mean smile. I think I could have saved a lot of headache with our family photos if I had simply said, "Smile" instead of "Cheese". How would he know that when I was saying, "Cheese" I wanted him to smile and I wasn't talking about one of his favorite snacks? Oh well, he gets it now. :D

Latest Logan News:

Lately it has seemed like I can't get Logan to eat anything. Everything I put on his tray would end up on the floor after one little nibble. The thing is, I know he likes these foods...so I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't eat them. The other day he climbed up to Korben's plate and started using the fork to try and eat. He wasn't very successful, but he would try and then pick up the food with his hands if he couldn't get it on the fork. I realized that he is plenty old enough to give utensils. These milestones always seem to pass me by. Sometimes I wish kids came with a timer or something that would go off reminding you of these things. Of course he can try a fork...how is he going to learn to use one if I never give him one? So now, I give him a utensil with every meal, and a lot more of the food is going in his mouth and a lot less on the floor.

I think a lot of the reason for his desire for a fork is simply that he watches Korben do it and wants to be like him. He gets upset if he can't do something that Korben can do. Once again, I had some oranges set out for Korben (who won't eat them peeled, only sliced) and Logan decided they were for him. I always break the oranges up for Logan (again thinking he is too young to possibly have a slice), and he never seems to eat them very well. So on this occasion, he chose to show me that he was old enough to have a full slice. The poor kid is going to have to fight to grow up!

"See Mom? I can do it too!"

On the table of course...because he couldn't possible sit in a chair like a normal person.

Harrison Family Photo 2008

We had a huge success this past week...we got family pictures done!! This may seem like an easy thing, but I have had shirts purchased twice now (the first set in MAY) and had 3 appointments set that have all had to be cancelled because of work. It is seriously sad because this is our first family photo with Logan and he is over a year old.

The fact that we even have decent photos is something to celebrate about. We went in on a Saturday and the experience was awful. Korben was running wild and the photographer didn't have a clue how to pose us or even begin to work with Korben. None of the family pictures were usable, and the pictures of Mike and I looked like bad homecoming photos. We requested that we have the manager take more pictures the following Monday, which they were fine with. A friend of mine, who also happens to be an occupational therapist, recommended that we give Korben gum to calm him down. It worked like a charm, and throw that in with a competent photographer, and we got some great photos.

So now the dilemma is choosing which one to put on our wall. I like this first one. I like the pose and I like how I look in it more than the next one.

Mike likes this photo. I agree that it is great of him and the boys, but I kind of feel like I shouldn't be in the photo because the three of them are so cute in it and I'm like a prop in the background. A prop with hair that is all over the place.

So, I want input. Votes, if you will. Which photo would you put on your wall?

Christmas 2008

We didn't get a lot of pictures this Christmas...it was all very laid back and none of us really cared to make a big deal out of it. The best Christmas gift that we had was to have Mike home for a few days, so all the other stuff just kind of fell by the wayside. Here are some of the photos that we did get:

Logan was very proud of himself for waking up Mommy on Christmas morning.

Logan playing with his new animal train...he loves this toy.


Korben was really cute because he wouldn't even look at what the gift was until every single piece of wrapping paper was off of the box. You can see in this picture how focused he is on the paper...not giving a second thought to what is under it.

A Cheesy Christmas Photo...

Jim came down from Seattle to spend Christmas day with us. Korben really enjoyed having him here...this is also the only picture that we have of Korben smiling, or even looking at the camera for that matter, from Christmas day.

Since I was gone for Thanksgiving, we had a frozen turkey that needed to be used. I made turkey, potatoes and rolls, and Jess made ham and frog eye salad. Add some olives, pickles and cranberry sauce and we had a pretty decent Christmas meal.

This is my favorite moment from Christmas day. Mike had been playing a game on his laptop and when he left it for a minute, Logan decided to take over.

Check out that concentration...14 months old and already a gaming machine. :D

One of Korben's gifts was a set of crayons and markers that you use to draw on the tub during bath time. This was a gift that was recommended by his developmental pediatrician. He loves his "colors" and twice in the last week I have found him stark naked trying to get into the tub to color.

Another one of Korben's gifts was the fisher price easy link system. It is really great because the little figurines take him to all of his favorite websites, but keeps him from getting into anything else on the computer. You can set a time limit as well so that the games stop and he can't do anything else when time is up. He LOVES this set-up. However, he gets a little to engrossed, as you can see, and ends up in some treacherous positions...(I know, my floor is nasty - I was appalled when Mike showed me the picture and have repented and cleaned the sty up.)

The only thing I wanted for Christmas this year, was a wedding ring that fit. It hasn't fit since Logan was born and all of my attempts to lose enough weight, to get it back on my finger, have failed. I had accepted the fact that maybe my finger will always just be a little fatter and really just wanted to be able to wear it again. And since the Shane Co. re-sizes for free, it ended up being an easy Christmas gift to get.

Mike and I had decided on a no-gift-for-each-other policy for 2008, but on Christmas Eve decided to get something. Of course we made this decision at around 4pm when everything was closing at 5, so were running around like idiots...it was wonderful. We ended up getting the Lego Batman game for the PC. Unfortunately, nobody had the controllers that we needed for the game, so we ordered them online that night and they are supposed to be here sometime this week. That's what we get for waiting till the last second I guess. :D Batman is hott even as a Lego character. HeHe

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's!

Merry Christmas John!!

Johnny...I feel terrible that I didn't get a Christmas card out to you. To make up for it, Mike and I thought you might enjoy watching our Family Christmas Video.

We miss you and love you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Harrison Household Happenings

So it has been a while since I last blogged. Lots of things have happened since Thanksgiving. I'm going to give a brief overview of the things that have kept me from blogging:

LOGAN:

*Logan has mastered coming down the stairs...WOOHOO! It was really frustrating sometimes when I was carrying things down and he couldn't follow me. Now I have a little shadow everywhere I go. :D

*Korben was sick and the doctor recommended that we give him popsicles in order to keep him hydrated. Logan felt that he deserved a popsicle too, but he couldn't quite figure out how to hold onto the stick...

I don't know if this face is because his hand is freezing, or because he is so excited, but either way it is cute.

* The newest Logan development happened a few days ago. He started climbing onto the table from the chairs. I knew he could do this, but never imagined that the little Houdini would figure out how to escape his booster seat in order to get onto the table. This is how I found him one morning after I had gone upstairs to answer the phone. I didn't move a single thing before I took the picture-look how far away his chair is from the table! I don't know how he managed it without cracking his head open on the floor...

* We were able to pick up Logan's compression glove...and after only 6 weeks of waiting it was only one size too big. Rather than send it back (again) I hand stitched it myself. It is working beautifully. I'm sure you will see it in future pictures...I just don't have one of it yet. It's blue and made out of a thin fabric and is held together a little below his wrist with Velcro.

KORBEN:

* Right after our trip to Idaho/Utah, Korben developed a horrible cold. He had the nasty croupy cough that makes you want to cry every time you hear it. We thought he was starting to get better when one Sunday night he had a temperature of 104.8 degrees. We rushed him to the urgent care clinic where they ended up doing chest x-rays to check for pneumonia. Luckily he didn't have that bad of a cold, and after a steroid injection that helped clear up the swelling in his throat, he recovered a week or so later.

This is a picture of him on one of his sick days. He had a hard time sleeping on his back without coughing, so opted to sleep in the middle of the floor on his tummy instead.

As a side note, Korben has had an EEG, an MRI, given blood, and done chest x-rays all in the last 4 months and has been stellar through all of them. But if you try and give the kid Tylenol...that's where he draws the line and can conjure some super human strength that takes two adults to overpower. Poor kid.

When Korben got all better we put up the Christmas decorations. He helped by dancing around in the Santa hat.

* Most of you were e-mailed about Korben's autism diagnosis, so I won't go into details. We are happy to finally have an official diagnosis and ready to do whatever it takes to help him. One sign of autism is that Korben has many moments where he gets panicky over things not working the way he thought they would. He is getting better at not throwing tantrums when this happens, and lots of times now he just says (in the cutest concerned voice imaginable),"What's happening?!".
It makes me giggle every time.

* Another cute Korben phrase is, "Hi There!" He picked it up from a show and it makes everyone just adore him.
He's such a sweetheart!

KATE:

*Shortly after the trip, I got a package in the mail from Kimber. (After reading the Twilight Series again over the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that Kimber must be a vampire...I mean how else could she do all the stuff she does and still have time to sleep at night?!) The gift was just what I needed after taking care of sickness for two weeks and then getting sick myself. She recommended that I simply take some time for me. She sent my favorite candy (Peanut M&M's and Swedish Fish), a few good books to read, and a gift certificate to one of our favorite restaurants (Red Robin). I was able to take some me time and read one of the books in an afternoon, blaze through my candy like it was illegal, and really just take a break. So, thanks Kimber. Love you!

*After taking some time, I was ready to get back to work on a project I have been doing for one of my 10 hour YW projects. I decided to make a Christmas video (pretty much the same as The Fullmer Family Christmas Video) that has scenes from Christ's life as well as short testimonies from the youth about Christmas/the Atonement/the Resurrection, all put to music. I blew through ten hours of work early on, to say the least, so this has been one of the big reasons for not blogging. I have loved working on it though and the finished product is awesome. I get chills every time I watch it and hear the youth testify of Christ. I wish I could put it on the blog for all of you, but it is 15 minutes long. So just imagine a youth video that leaves you with the most powerful feeling of the spirit.

*This week I got a new set of contacts. The last time I got contacts was, oh, only 6 years ago, so the prescription was only a full 3 points worse. :S I feel like my eyes have gone high-definition. It's awesome.

MIKE:

*The picture below pretty much sums up Mike's job and life in general. The poor guy is working so many hours that he is beat when he gets home. He still tries to spend time with the kids though which makes him even more tired. This particular night, after Korben was content watching a movie in his arms, he was finally able to get some much needed rest.

*This past week has been a weird one. First there were light snow flurries that (and I'm not exaggerating) completely shut down Portland. We had 5 different doctor's/therapy appointments cancelled because of a tiny skiff of snow. The snow progressed through the week and, after mixing with rain, was bad enough that Mike and his Service Manager were in an accident on the freeway (his SM was driving and they are both okay but the truck was totalled). Today, that snow has progressed to 6 inches in our back yard. And we live in Washington. So weird. But it is beautiful outside. Korben was chanting "snow, snow, snow" all day and spent much of the day just looking out the window. Here is the view of our house as of just a few hours ago:

Okay, so the "overview" didn't end up being as brief as I had planned.

I hope that now you all feel sufficiently updated on our lives. I would like to get back into the swing of the blogging world again soon. But just in case I don't...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Oh My Goodness...

Watch this trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince/

CHILLS!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the Fullmer family was getting together to watch Mom and Dad perform in the Forgotten Carols, and then have an early Thanksgiving dinner together. At the very last minute, I decided to pack up the boys and make the trek to Rexburg to see the family. It worked out really well because Jessica's Mom needed to get home, so they rode with us, making the trip a little easier.

The boys (and Kylee) were awesome travelers. We drove all the way from Vancouver to Pocatello the first day because they were doing so well. The next day I continued on to Rexburg to eat some yummy food and enjoy the company of family. I took a lot of pictures, but Kimber already blogged the best ones, so you can check those out here. Here are two of my favorites from Saturday's Thanksgiving Party.

Mom and Dad Fullmer.

Mom and 4 of her 5 daughters. (We miss you lots and lots Kells!)

After staying a few days in Rexburg, I made my way to Utah to visit Mike's side of the family. Rather than only staying for a day and then heading back to Washington, Jess and I decided to stay a few extra days. This meant that we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with our husbands, but in the end, worked out much better for the kids. (Poor husbands always come after the babies) For the next 3 days I used Kara as a hotel (sorry KareBear!) and visited Mike's parents during the day. They were so thrilled with the surprise of us being in town. We were able to get all of Mike's siblings (that live in Utah) to visit the night before Thanksgiving. It was fun to see all of the siblings as well as all the cousins. Korben had a great time with Mia, and Logan was a ham for everyone.

On Thanksgiving day, Mom and Dad Harrison treated us to Golden Corral for dinner. It was perfect for the 3 adults and 2 children...no preparation, no mess, no clean-up. It was great to spend Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad, but I really missed Mike and wished that he could have been there.

Soon it was time to head to Twin Falls. It was sad to say goodbye to Mike's parents. Korben and Logan are the youngest grandchildren on that side of the family and I think the long time in between visits is hard on Mom and Dad.

Mia and Korben playing catch.

Korben and Logan fighting to stay on Grandpa's lap.

Korben and Grandma. This is my favorite photo of the entire week.

That night I drove to Twin Falls to stay with Josh and Chelle. I was shouting for joy when I filled up our Pilot because it only cost $28 to fill it (and the gas light was on). Considering it took us around $75 a fill the last time we visited, this was worth getting excited over.

It was nice to spend time with Josh and Chelle. We never seem to stay long in Twin because it is always the stopping point on the way to wherever we are going to end up. It was a fun visit and a great rest before our long drive home. The boys slept better than they had the whole week because they were in separate rooms, Korben had a lot of fun playing with Matt, I figured out what I am going to get Korben for Christmas (a game that Matt had), and I was able to spend more time with Josh and Chelle than I have since I lived with them at 15. It was a great ending to a fun trip.

Korben and Matt sword fighting.

Taking turns on the "horsie".

Jess met up with me in Twin Falls on Saturday so that we could drive home. Neither one of us were looking forward to the drive, but the extra days of rest must have worked, because all of the kids were excellent. It only took us 9 and a half hours to get home and we pulled in around 11:30pm. It was so nice to pull into the driveway and know that I was done with the travelling.

I was so excited to see Mike; 9 days is a LONG time...I don't think I'll do that again anytime soon. When I went in our bathroom, I saw a list of days and things that Mike missed about me while I was gone. It was really sweet. I have the best hubby ever!

Thanks to all those that let us crash at your homes. Thanks for the yummy food and for lots of laughs. Love you all!