Haircuts

Long over-due as usual, the kids got some haircuts this weekend (Sat 3rd). Will had a birthday sleepover, so I ran the kids to my mom's house to trim all that hair!

Before

 And after. Maggie has bangs!

 Before. Gettin' scraggly

 After. Hopefully it will grow more evenly now

 Before

After. Jake needed it most. I can see my handsome boys face again!

Halloween & Harvest Party

My mom decided to visit us this year for Halloween so we had a special trick-or-treating visitor! She arrived Sunday evening and Will, of course had grandma wrapped so we went out to eat plenty and did some shopping. He was certainly sad to see her go this morning and I'm sure Maggie would be as well, if she understood what exactly that meant. :)

We covered more ground this Halloween and both kids nearly filled their buckets. Last year Maggie was so little she hung out in her stroller all night, probably sleeping but she did great this year! Will wore out before she did, but in his defense, he was walking and Maggie was being held or strolled. We ran into a couple with a little girl in a wheelchair and the mom told us it was her first year trick-or-treating. I told her about Maggie in Early Intervention and it turns out we see the same therapists! I mean, it's not that surprising because each therapist has a certain area they cover so if you live around us, you're going to see the same ones, but we still commented what a small world it is that we ran into each other. The girl has a rare genetic disorder but they're hopeful she'll walk; the little girl was sitting up very well in her wheelchair and clapping her hands too, so it seems she's doing great! This happened near the end of our night and I thought it was a great way to top off the evening.

Maggie met a ladybug dog...so cute and she just

loves doggies

 Will did a great job passing out candy when we got back

Today was Will's school harvest party...they had a character parade then a little party back in the classroom; Daniel was able to steal away time from the office to be there for Will's 1st little school party. I love that flexibility and Daniel's commitment to us to take that time even though he was (and always is) really busy!! We had a really good time and I know Will enjoyed having us there.

 Will leading the pack (of his class anyway)

 We're missing two friends, but we got most of

his class in there

One fish two fish

When my parents came down last week, they – I dare say – spoiled Will. Shocking, I know! Among the nonsense wonderful gifts chosen was a Betta fish. A blue one. Named Fish. Seriously, for the first day- Monday- that was Will’s chosen name, or Shark. I think I finally convinced him Finn was a good name, both because he has fins and Will loves a certain Finn McMissile from Cars 2. Oh we (because, I mean, I was there) bought a tank and rocks, a plant, food and all the good stuff a fish needs to make his house a home. We set up the tank when we got home, found the perfect spot and fed Fish Shark (still his name at this point).

Then Thursday morning Will found Finn sleeping. On his side. Yep, you guessed it, good ‘ol Finn died. Peacefully, in his sleep. At least I assume so. Will’s first fish, my parents left, Daniel’s out of town and I have to figure out how to explain this to Will. As I was dialing Daniel, Will walked up to me and said, I think my fish is dying, he’s not waking up! Okay, that was easier than I thought. But how do you know about dying?!!? So he was a little sad, but 2 1/2 days with Finn must not have been enough to form an attachment too strong.
I think it’s worth mentioning this fish was purchased from Wal-Mart. So when Daniel returned, we decided PetSmart was the place to go and that’s where we bought fish #2 this weekend. Sorry Dr. Suess, no red fish for the Belchers. Will definitely has a type, they look almost the same!


We ran through a list of names again but in the end Will chose, on his own, Kaczmarski (kazz-mar-skee). Daniel’s friend, Kacz as we call him for short (his last name), was impressed, I’m sure.

Grandparents & Girlfriends

Last Monday morning Daniel boarded and early flight to Houston, a trip we did not look forward to, but we were VERY busy in his absence. My parents visited from Monday morning ‘til Wednesday morning, we swam with friends Wednesday afternoon then went straight to Maggie’s PT at Hand In Hand, had a play date Thursday early afternoon then visited friends Thursday night and welcomed daddy home Friday. Whew! I also had work to do but only completed a few reports here and there the first few days because of said busyness so I got most of it done later in the week and over the weekend.
I was happy to receive a call from my mom week before last asking to visit Monday morning until Tuesday afternoon because I enjoy seeing them and I knew this would ease the burden of being alone with two kids. They asked me not to tell Will, they wanted to surprise him and Sunday night we found out Kyle could come too! We did some shopping – of course – cooking, going out to eat, swimming and watching movies. It was a good time. They were supposed to leave Tuesday after lunch but my mom was able to get off Wednesday so they stayed an extra day!

Not the surprised look we were expecting

Paga is so funny!

the dress Grandma had to get

My parents left Wednesday morning after breakfast and I packed up the kids to meet friends at the pool. My girl friends, Jen & Amy along with their 6 combined teenage and pre-teen girls invited us to join them for a swim day. We had a lot of fun but  didn’t get to stay too long ‘cause Maggie had PT. The therapists usually come to us, but every once in awhile we have to go there. She was a little fussy because it was nap time, but she still worked really hard and even took some supported steps with Marliese (don’t get too excited, she’s not about to walk or anything)!  Didn’t get many pics at the pool and most people don’t want bathing suit pictures online, so I’ll skip those. But here’s Maggie in therapy:

Our play date Thursday was equally enjoyable, so much so that Will did not want to leave. But we did and got home just a couple hours before we left for my girls night. Jen volunteered her girls to watch Will and Maggie so I was able to socialize for a little while.