Moving!

It's been so long since I blogged, have I mentioned that we're moving? Jefferson will be pastor of a wonderful church near the Pittsburgh Airport beginning in August. We are thrilled that he is almost ordained and that we will be, Lord willing, settling in to a new home for a long while. The kids are pumped because we'll have a driveway. I am excited because we'll have room for a Homeschool room in the basement. The people of the church are wonderful and we so look forward to living life with them. It will be different, a lot different, than what I'm used to, that's for sure. We'll have to drive 20+ minutes to get to a grocery store, or a Wal-Mart, or a drive through.... which can only be a positive thing for us!
More on the big move as the summer progresses. We are certainly going to miss so many people at our church here who have become like family. The leaving part is not registering with me yet as much as they "something new" part. Soon, I'm pretty sure my brain will put it all together. We'll see... Until then, some photos:

All of us at the front of the sanctuary of the new church.
Three little monks!
Great big brother and sister holding on to their baby sister's dress as she tries to take a dive!

The gang

Oh, dear.
That's all I can really say.
Last week, my dear Superman, in his quest to help me do the dishes, completely flooded the kitchen. He started out fine- washing, running water when needed and then setting things aside. I went upstairs to talk to Jefferson and see what the girls were up to and suddenly we all heard, " MOMMY, DADDY HELP THERE'S WATER EVERYWHERE!!!!!" We went running downstairs to find that our dear Superman does not, in fact, exagerate and there was water-everywhere. It would seem to me that if the water began overflowing onto the kitchen floor, one might turn off the faucet, but apparently Superman was so distraught over the flooding (or intrigued) that he neglected to turn off the water. We quickly turned off the water, eliminating Niagara Falls at its' source and began dealing with the lake left behind. Water was rushing down the heating vent in the floor and SURPRISE... into the basement where it was dripping through cracks in the pipes onto the floor and everything on it.
Good times. Good, good times.

Later on in the week, I was at our dear friend Nicole's dance recital when I received a text from Jefferson. It read: "Ladybug just looked at me straight faced and said when I go to the bathroom my (insert name of female body part) gets wet."
I almost peed my pants during the recital, as did everyone around me who got to see the text as well. Oh, you just NEVER KNOW what will come out of their mouths.

Also in the HAHAHAHA category... Sweet Pea has been a little slow on her physical development and our pediatrician wanted her to have a PT evaluation to see what was up. A lovely woman from the Early Intervention unit came to the house on Friday and while we were filling our paperwork and talking, Sweet Pea rolled from back to front on her own, for the first time in front of us (she does it in her crib, but not when we're around). She also laid on her tummy, started scooting backwards and then got herself to a sitting position from her tummy. She has NEVER done that before either. The EI woman and I were cracking up! I think Sweet Pea just wanted an audience for her new tricks. Now that she has figured out what to do, she does it ALL THE TIME!!
She also started randomly waving at people at the zoo yesterday and pointing at things to show us. I cannot begin to explain how much more animated she is from a week ago- it's absolutely amazing!

The Post where I cry... a lot

A few things of note:
1. Superman had some blood tests done recently to determine if he might have a chromosomal disorder that could explain 99.9% of his behavior, preferences, etc. The good news is that he does NOT have this disorder. The bad news is that he does NOT have this disorder. I cannot explain to anyone how this makes me feel. I have firmly believed that I might have stumbled onto an explanation for everything we see in him- the good, the bad and the ugly... and yet, clearly, it's not right. I feel lost. I feel really, really, really frickin' lost right now when it comes to my son.
Here's what I know for sure:
A: He is a gift from God. We prayed for a child and Superman is the amazing boy that God blessed us with five amazing years ago. Praise be to GOD.
B: Superman is a genius- he is analytical, he has an amazing memory, he has a kick-butt sense of humor.... he's smart as a whip.
C: He's got some kinda funky sensory stuff going down. The two OT's we've seen have both agreed that he is sensory seeking and needs deep pressure input. He has body awareness problems.
D: He is a leader, sometimes. He's a follower, sometimes. And sometimes he just plain wigs out. He hates mascots. He is learning to like puppets. He is terrified of baby mice.
E: He is thoughtful. He cannot hold eye contact for very long. He doesn't care when he hurts someone. He cracks up when he's apologizing and cannot hold a gaze. He feels other things deeply- like when his mean little sisters hurt him.
F: He can concentrate for hours on some things and then be unable to focus on anything at all. He can be focused or bouncing every where.
G: After his OT, he is a WILD man, which has recently caused our beloved OT to remark, "Hmmm... there is SOMETHING there, but what?" He should be very, very calm following all the input of therapy.
H: We had him evaluated when he was three and the evaluations all came back as either PDD-NOS or nothing, but maybe some ADHD or ADD tendencies as he gets older. In home wrap around services were suggested, but not insisted upon. We declined them because of the hecticness of last summer. I am currently trying to kick myself in the butt for doing so.
I: I have a lot of guilt when it comes to my precious son. Is this all because of some medication I took while I was pregnant or nursing? Is it because I was working full-time when he was a baby and taking him with me... not fully engaged in his play OR my work? Is it because he had a sister come along when he was still a baby himself? WHAT THE HELL DID I DO WRONG?
J: He was born with some physical issues that required two surgeries to correct. These things haven't ever been linked to his current problems by any of his drs., but I am deeply suspicious.
K: I know that he is amazing. He is a treasure. He is a blessing. I feel so often as if I have failed him over and over and over by not being MORE of an advocate for him- with drs. who should probably be sued for malpractice because of their stupidity (thanks Dr. L from Northside)... with parents of classmates who made stupid comments, by not pushing harder when evaluators said there's something there but they just don't know, by not researching enough, by just plain not providing him with the therapies here at home that could have helped him when he was smaller.

So, we're standing on the edge of kindergarten and we're going to homeschool, but, quite frankly, I'm scared out of my mind about it. Can I do it? Will he hate it? How will we get him the things he needs? What the heck is really going on with him?

And that's just him... Sweet Pea is lagging in some things physically which our ped felt could use a PT evaluation. I am praying that it's nothing, but beginning to freak myself out.... she's very similiar to her brother. Then there's Ladybug- moody, cranky, PMS-Preschooler Ladybug. Some days I'm pretty sure she's actually schitzophrenic! Between the three of them, we have some wild, wild times here at the Ellis homestead. And folks, I do mean to tell you, they're about to get much, much wilder.........

My Husband is a GENUIS!

The other day, Jefferson was taking Superman to soccer (where Superman scored his first goal!) when they drove past the car rental place at the end of our road. Superman exclaimed, "DADDY YOU"RE A GENUIS".... The car rental company has an overabundance of red trucks and Superman felt that we had sold Daddy's truck in the fall so that we could get one of these wonderful, new red trucks! So cute!