The Weekly Run-Down

I spent Tuesday out looking for stocking stuffers for the kids. Once again - Knox’s stocking is busting at the seems, and I can’t think of a whole lot for Hadley. She’s at that weird age - too big for baby things, but too little for big girl things. I may end up just putting a pair of Stride Rites and a few other things she needs in there…

{This came home with Hadley on Tuesday. It’s her footprint on a tile. Such a sweet keepsake for the parents!}

Remember how I was whining about James being out of town? Well he was supposed to be back on Tuesday. So when I heard his trial was being prolonged it kind of messed up some plans… Wednesday morning Knox was scheduled to have his hearing/speech evaluation at the child development center. Our confirmation letter said in BOLD print to not bring any other children, so James was going to stay at home with H.

Come Monday I was at a loss over what I was going to do with her. It took us 2 months to get this appointment so I knew I couldn’t reschedule. No one I could think of was available, and I’ve never hired a babysitter, so I didn’t have a go-to person to call. That’s when Ashley from SheSheMade saved my rear… She was so sweet to watch H for me!

I felt kind of bad dropping her off at 7am Wednesday morning. Ashley and I have been Twitter friends for a while and I feel like I know her better than some of my IRL friends, but this was our first time to meet face-to-face and there I was pawning off Hadley and running out. Ha! I know H had fun though, and we were able to chat once I picked her up while Knox and Ava had a grand time playing…

Hadley is so used to being the baby it cracked me up to see her get a little jealous of Judd. Ashley sat down to feed him and she did all she could to climb in her lap too. And of course this is her chilling in his bouncer… With Ashley’s phone. What a mess!

Hadley is really in to putting hats on. I died laughing when I caught her running through the house like this the other day! She’s too fast for me to get a head-on shot.

And is it awful that this makes me laugh too? Knox was in time-out for who knows what…

About the appointment… I only did this in light of our problems with Knox’s teacher this year. (Honestly - Knox has a strong/energetic personality and I think he threatened her. Instead of setting boundaries with him, she just kept telling me there was “something wrong with him…”) I just wanted to have him professionally evaluated to make sure there weren’t any problems we’re overlooking. His pediatrician, the neurologist we saw a few weeks ago, and the doctor we saw Wednesday agree that he is on target developmental, and even ahead in most areas. There are no red flags for any major delays or disorders - including Autism and ADHD. The one area he’s weakest on is abstract conversation… Sometimes he doesn’t understand when I we talk about something that’s not right there in front of him. (ie. What’d you do at school today?) Although he is very verbal. He speaks well. And A LOT.

Anyway - the doctor seems to think a lot of this is just probably a maturity thing. Every child develops at a different rate, and has strengths and weaknesses. He’s just not there yet… But we did decide that he’d probably benefit from a few weeks of speech therapy. If only to make things easier on all of us when it comes to disciplining him at home and school. Especially since he has a later birthday for his class.

Thursday was the kids’ last day at MDO until January. They had their Birthday Parties for Jesus and Knox got to wear his PJs to school again…

{Notice the princess finger? She started that very early on… Scary.}

H has several Christmas outfits. I’ve had to put some thought in to when she wears them, especially for school. She wore her blue snowman bishop and Santa knot dress last week, she wore her Grinch pants set this Tuesday, and her ornament bishop Thursday… I still need to get her picture in the snowman bishop and Grinch set.

I had big plans on making homemade fudge and monogramming dish towels for the teachers. But the past 2 weeks have taken everything out of me. I was so exhausted Wednesday night I ended up just picking up some Starbucks gift cards for them… Not to mention I was already committed to bringing cookies for Knox’s party, juice and snack for Hadley’s, and sweet tea for the teachers luncheon. I looked like a pack mule hauling all of that plus our normal load in Thursday morning.

Thursday night I got my husband back! James didn’t get in until 8 and after almost 2 weeks the kids were VERY excited to see him. Once we finally got them to bed, I made us some grub since neither of us had eaten dinner…

I tried a new Pinterest recipe for Coconut Chicken with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. SO good. The dipping sauce makes it. (I found that and the coconut milk in the Asian food section.) We snacked on it while catching up on some of our TV shows.

Speaking of recipes - I mentioned my love affair with hot chocolate and the crockpot recipe for it on Pinterest a few weeks ago… Well since then, I been making it almost nightly. Except I do a 1/4 recipe and cook it on the stove top since it’s such a small batch…

• 1 1/2 cups milk (I use 1%.)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I use the Ghiradelli kind. Divine.)

Pour all ingredients in to a small sauce pan. Heat on medium, whisking frequently, until chocolate is melted and it is desired temperature. (About 5-8 minutes.)

This makes the perfect amount for me to fill my mug and a smaller cup for Knox. (Or seconds for me…)

Today (Friday) James went to the office to catch up on some things before we head out of town (once again) next week. The kids and I are still in our PJs. I need to do some sewing and we may head to the gym after naps.

This weekend should be crazy. James and I are hell bent on getting a few rooms painted and home improvement projects done. And I think Santa may be coming Saturday night… We usually try to do that before we leave for Tennessee :)