And jelly.  This is what Nate told me the other day.  These funny little Nate-isms - they are part of our daily life these days.  Four is such a great age.  So was three for that matter!  And of course, I have always said I was going to be that parent who, when their child says something entirely inappropriate, I am unable to stifle my laughter.  Yeah. That's me.  So you can imagine then how many times he told me the other night that he was "allergic to boobs!" Somehow I think he will be singing a different tune when he's a little older!  His other new fascination?  His "junk".  Yep, that's what he calls it.  Courtesy of daddy.  Seems we are frequently having conversations these days about how its in appropriate to talk about his own junk in public - much less mommy's or daddy's.  Ah...little boys!


Last week's vent on this blog actually gave way to a very good week around the Roth household and served as a very important reminder for me that I need to be patient and not automatically expect the worst and hit the panic button.  I do this a lot.  I have been conditioned to think that every little cough, vomiting spell, etc. most certainly must be a sign of something bad.  But again it serves as a reminder for me of something we have said since the day Finley was born - we need to treat her like we would treat her if she didn't have CHARGE Syndrome.  And this applies to us too - not panicking at the slightest sign of something.  Lesson learned.  I will try to get better at this!

Not the greatest picture of Finley - but a good picture of her outfit!  I had to post this one for Amanda since she gave us this adorable skirt!  This was the first time Finley has ever worn denim - much less a skirt too!

Anyway - the kids both had great weeks.  For the moment, the bugs seem to have made their way out of the Roth household and we are re-reinforcing the hand washing/hand sanitizer rule - just to make sure its tops of mind for all of our visitors - we have a lot of therapists coming in and out of our house!  Speaking of which, Finley had her annual Early Intervention evaluation yesterday.  This is a time when all of her therapists gather, they write reports and comment on where Finley is delay wise and in relation to the goals we set at the last go-round.  The purpose of the meeting is to re-set goals as appropriate and evaluate the need for any new services or assistive devices - and while I know the genuine purpose of the meeting is good - as a parent - its nerve wracking.  Its nerve wracking for us to receive reports from our 7 therapists who in advance of the meeting all have to do evaluations, fill out questionnaires, etc. to determine Finley's progress.  And then that day you sit down to discuss all of these reports and as you flip through them, you see there in black and white what percent delayed Finley is in all of these different disciplines.  Here is the deal.  When it comes to Finley - a part of me likes to be blissfully ignorant.  The glass is always half full - and frankly I don't think I a doing myself a disservice by approaching things this way.  If I were to get hung up on these details - like Finley being 57% delayed in language comprehension - it might sink my boat.  I choose to live in the moment and one day at a time and I feel that as long as we endeavor to have our best day every day - we will get there.  Whether its when she's 3 or 13.  We will get there.  And so after these meetings, I review the reports once or twice more and then I tuck them away and move on.

THIS to me is progress!

This weekend in the Roth household will be focused on preparing to decorate the house for Christmas!  That's right boys and girls - I put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving every year because I like to enjoy it for a full month.  Last year, we got a real tree for the first year because our tree was in storage because of our construction project.  It was the first time my ENTIRE life that I had a real tree.  I HATED IT!  Sorry to all of you real tree people out there - but aside from the night we dragged that thing in to the house and set it up - that "fresh tree smell" never wafted through my house!  And although I watered that thing religiously every morning and again at night if necessary - like it was my job - that darn thing dropped needles like CRAZY to the point that as we neared Christmas - it was starting to resemble the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  No thanks.  I will not do that again.  And while my tree is STILL in storage (that's right - construction has been done since March and we have STILL not emptied the storage facility) I am going there this weekend to drag that thing out and getting ready to decorate!  That also means the arrival of Nate's Elf on the Shelf "Inny".  Oh how I love that elf and the fear of Santa this time of the year!  I am also planning a nice crafty wreath project for the weekend if I can fit it in.  Depending on how it turns out - I may post some pics!

Finley playing in her favorite blanket - see how she puts her fingers through the weave of the blanket?  I love that!

Whoo hoo!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!