1st Field Trip- off to the Pumpkin Patch

We lucked out with the boys starting school just in time for the 1st field trip of the year. Off to the pumpkin patch we went! That was an experience and really fun. They encourage parents to come if we want/can and I am glad i went. Riding the big school bus was an experience for the boys. Reid was scared and Preston hopped right on. No surprise from either of them. Drop off was the normal time and then we were invited to stay to watch morning routine before leaving on the field trip. Glad I got to see what they normally do to start their day. Preston wasn't thrilled to follow along knowing I was there and Reid totally ignored me. LOL Their teacher is phenominal. I am impressed. And Reid has found a particular liking to Ms Kelsey (one of the Para's) and he is sitting next to her. He also invited her to our house. I love kids! She really connects with him. He chose to sit next to her on the bus ride home instead of sitting with me and P. So i got extra special time with my little lovie and that was nice. Making up for some lost time is how I always look at any one on one time I get with P! 

Singing songs after open play. 

Cute video I recorded for Tim so he could see the type of songs they do. I missed getting the 'hello, goodmorning, and say hi to our friends' song- super cute!

Holding Ms Abby's hand and wore their backpacks to hold their pumpkins

All strapped in ready to ride the bus

Sitting on a hay bail to ride the tractor to the patch

The boys found their pumkins. Reid got the 'big daddy' pumpkin and Preston got the 'baby' pumpkin as they called them. FUN morning with my boys! 

1st day of Preschool

We have the 1st day of Preschool under our belt. It went GREAT! The boys are happy and enjoying it so far. Tim took a 1/2 day and came for the drop off and then we headed to breakfast together and got in a nice walk before he headed to work and I went back to pick them up. We toasted with coffee to 'WE DID IT!' We finally arrived to a place we longed for 3 years ago. NORMALCY! If there is such a thing :)  We are impressed with their teacher Ms Abby and all of the services Preston will receive are fantastic. Wonderful educators and we feel fortunate Tim works in a school district that offers such top notch services that our child is able to take advanage of at such an early age. The Audiologist has already emailed me about P's hearing aid and she is so glad he wears it and we have all back up supplies in his backpack daily. The miraculous part of the morning was........NO tears from any of us (i did have a few tears on Sunday in anticipation of the 1st day but they were happy tears- feels so wonderful to be in a healthy place with Preston. He deserves it more than anything!) and the boys ran right to their room and the rest is history. 

We weren't camera ready but I wanted a pic with my boys on their first day! 

This picture is brought to you by bribery of animal crackers at 8am ;) 

Ms Abby and the boys

Cheers to 'WE DID IT' - a new journey feels GREAT! 

A new lease on life and so many firsts to celebrate!

SO many firsts in the Walker household these past few weeks. We experienced our first church service without the boys in tow. They went to sunday school. That felt weird leaving P and I had to remind myself that he is just fine :) Hard to let go at first. He was a happy camper playing and didn't care that we left. That helped! Now we are no longer feeling weird and we are cherishing the FREEDOM. Went to a gala event and had Tim's folks and Auntie Kim stay with the boys. TOTALLY AWESOME we didn't have to miss out on such an amazing night b/c we weren't able to have a night nurse. Preston got to spend the night at my parents house for the 1st time. Its still hard for us to wrap our brains around the fact that he is HEALED. Totally 100% healed and able to do ALL things he should be doing at his age. Its a TOTAL gift.  We are thankful for this new lease on life. Bath time is a blast. Still cautious until his neck is closed for good. We still rely on the video monitor a lot but let me tell you, brother bear has found his voice. He is a screamer. LOL Yikes! LOVES to hear himself jibber jabber and make noise! We love it. He is LOVING to get HIS turn finally at many things! First speech appt with Kay for her to guide us in developing words was wonderful. We have a bit of a road ahead with speech but I truly believe words will start to form and his language will explode once he is in school with other kids and they work with him daily.  First trip to the dr to get flu shots and SHOW OFF HIS NAKED NECK. The nurse who always sees us had big tears when she saw P. She had no idea he was decannulated. His doctors were SO excited to see him! His proud smile and pointing to his neck and signing 'all gone' to them was priceless. Now we need to see his KU Med nurses to make the decannulation come full circle. 

Now for a reality check I wasn't ready for. I knew it was coming. I thought I was prepared……not as much as I had hoped. First full week without Jessica everyday 7-4. Man was I spoiled! We still talked every day or in the evening LOL I am finding new common ground with parenting the boys on my own most of the week. Its SO rewarding but SO exhausting. I am just glad school is around the corner to help burn off their energy. 

Anyone ever feel like they are VERY busy but not getting much accomplished? Well, that sums up my week with the boys. We crammed in hair cuts, flu shots (that dr appt was when it really hit me how wonderful it was to have Jess's 2nd set of hands all the time), a dr appt for myself today (i won't go into details about me locking my keys in the car at ku med at 8am with the boys in tow this morning….i felt like Ralphie in a Christmas Story…..Fuuuuuuuuuuudge….once i realized what i did), a few play dates with Grandparents, and time with Ms Jess when she was here to watch the boys for me and do her usual stuff around the house to help me out tremendously. Even when I was supposed to be working, I was filling out Preston's evaluation paperwork for school, Reid's peer model paperwork, and catching up on so much stuff that has been piling up since we got home. So very strange not having Jessica here with us daily. Not trying to beat a dead horse but man I miss her. We all do. It has been a daily effort on my end to find a new routine and I think it will all start to jive once the boys start school Monday. We meet their teacher tomorrow. I am praying she is a great fit!

Bath time at Grandma and Grandpa's 

Night out at the Hope Gala 

Off to the Zoo (having no suction bag in tow was AWESOME!!!

In the car off to Grandma and Grandpa's for his first overnight. He was SO excited! 

GO ROYALS! Thanks Auntie Kim for the stylin' shirts