Aly's 100th Day

Yesterday was Alyssa's 100th day of school. I don't remember celebrating the 100th day of school when I was in preschool or elementary (or thereafter) but I guess it has become a big deal in the last 30 years.  Jackson was  pretty jazzed about his 100th day a few weeks ago, but I think he was most excited about the pizza party and 100th day cake.  Alyssa was really excited about the 100th day activities and the 100th day special snack.  She ran into school yesterday morning...literally ran.  And she couldn't wait to tell me all about it when I picked her up in the afternoon.  The centers for the day all had a 100 theme.  She loved it.  This is Alyssa reading her 100th day newspaper.

Jacksonisms

Though sometimes unintended, Jackson loves to make people laugh. 3 of my favorite Jacksonisms of late--

1.  We went to the doctor for Alyssa's check up. 
Dr (looking at Alyssa):  Do you sleep well at night?
Jackson:  I don't
Dr (now looking at Jackson, concerned):  Why?
Jackson:  I'm nocturnal.  I don't sleep at night. 
Dr (chuckling): That's the best answer I've heard to that question all day .

2.  The day before the parent/teacher conference at his school, the prompt for their writing journal was "I'd like you to tell my mom and dad..."  I was expecting "that I love them" or "school is fun" or even "I like math" but Jackson wrote something that only can be translated to "I am awesome." 

3.  Driving to my folks house. 
Jackson:  I remember where to turn for Granny and Granddad's house.  I remember lots of stuff because I have 2 brains, one inside of the other. 

Rocky Start

Yesterday was my first official day of solo parenting and it did not go as smoothly as I had envisioned.  I did the prep work-- I laid out clothes the night before, I had breakfasts ready, I got up early and was showered and ready before the kids got up. The morning routine of getting the 3 kids to their 3 schools actually went pretty well.  Then the painters showed up to paint the inside of the house and the craziness began! 

I left the painters to destroy (and beautify) the house while I went to teach.  While at school, Darren messaged to say he had left his 2nd form of identification in Houston and he had to have it by Tuesday morning to finish the paperwork for the new job.  I messaged the babysitter to see if she could come early to watch the kids while I met Darren between Austin and Houston (in lieu of my regular Monday ASL class).  Seemed like a good plan.  I taught and then hurried home to get Alyssa from school.  It poured down rain the 20 minutes I was on the bike, really the only rain I saw all day.  Soaking wet, Alyssa and I went to pick up Matthew and then Jackson from their respective schools. 

We came home to a house in total disarray-- furniture pushed to the middle of rooms, curtains down, tarps every where.  The kitchen was not functional.  "Okay", I thought to myself, "no biggie.  I will order pizza for dinner and the sitter and the kids can hang in the master bedroom as it is the most sane place in the house right now."  

Then the power went out, and then flickered on and off a couple of times, and then went out again.  "Ugh, I can't leave the babysitter holed up in my room with pizza, 3 kids and no electricity." So, I cancelled the sitter and loaded the 3 kids in the car for the hour and a half car ride to go have dinner with daddy.  Matthew was not pleased, since we had just spent the evening before driving the 3 hours home from Austin.  The bright point of the day was that it was very nice to see Darren.  Then the kids and I drove the hour and a half back home, where thankfully the power was back on.

It wasn't a horrible day.  At every unexpected turn, I do recognize that it could have been much worse.  But it wasn't the smooth day for which I was hoping.  Today wasn't either for that matter.  The house is still in disarray (but looking much fresher!).  We had 2 therapy appointments at the house amidst the craziness.  Matthew's room was unavailable for nap time.  We really can't hang at the house during awake hours because of the wet paint. 

Thankfully though, the painters should be done this week, the house will be refreshed and we can get into a better routine next week.   Solo parenting hopefully will be a bit easier when we get the house back to working order.  I hope so anyway!

The living room during the painting process.

Also Adjusting

Change is hard!  I am not the only one struggling with change right now.  This past weekend, we moved Alyssa's bed to Austin, moved her into Jackson's room to share the bunk bed and moved Matthew and his crib into what used to be Alyssa's room. 

Matthew has been struggling with that move. Monday night he awoke crying every couple of hours.  Tuesday at naptime, he absolutely refused to nap.  That made for a not-so-great afternoon/evening!  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, Matthew has awoken in the middle of the night (about 1am) screaming as loud as I've ever heard him.  After realizing that he isn't going to drift off on his own (about 5-10 minutes), we go check on him, comfort him and leave him to continue screaming for about 10 more minutes.  Not good. I am hoping he adjusts to the change very soon...for all of our sakes!

Matthew playing a video game after getting his haircut.

Flux

There is a lot of flux going on right now at the Hoy House.  Matthew started preschool a few weeks ago.  Last week was Darren's last day at HP after a combined 12+ years in 2 stretches.  Last weekend into this week, we moved Darren into his apartment in Austin.  This week, painters began painting our house in Cypress in preparation for us putting it on the market.  This upcoming Monday, Darren starts his new job in Austin.  At the end of February, Team Matthew (made up of a speech therapist, an early developmentalist, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist) will cease to exist in its current form as he ages out of ECI and moves to the school district and private therapy.  In the next few months, we need to purge our excess belongings, put our house on the market, find a neighborhood and school in Austin and buy a new house.  All followed by the move for the kids and I after the school year concludes.  Whew--that is a lot of change.

We've had a nice quiet stretch of late, which I have relished, and now life is in flux.  None of the above is bad--it is just change.  Some of it is very good change. But somedays, change is hard to handle. Today was that day for me.  I will miss my beloved until we are together again. I am sad to see the home that I love being turned into a generic house that we hope will sell.  I am wishing that we could take a break from therapy, to let Matthew be just a regular kid, but know that his reality, our reality, really doesn't allow for that.  I know I just need to suck it up and deal with it, and I will, but today I shed a few tears.  Tomorrow I'll begin to adapt and evolve.

All Better

I think health has returned to the Hoy house!  Friday morning, Matthew was fever free and has remained that way. By Friday morning, Darren's hives were gone too. Yippee!

This past week, I have been reminded that, though Matthew's uniquenesses do pose some additional complications (e.g. throat anomalies make croup more dangerous), he is overall just a regular kid who will get your run of the mill ailments from time to time.  And for that, we are so grateful. We recognize how lucky we are that the biggest medical issue Matthew has right now is strep throat, which seems to be responding well to the antibotic. So very thankful!

Last Day HP

Today was Darren's last day at HP. I know he's going to miss his HP co-workers (or frat brothers as I have called them). But excitement about the new adventure has taken foot and the countdown has begun for the big 1st day- 10 days! 

Tonight, we celebrated by making our yearly trek to the Houston car show. We even ran into family friends there! A great day and night!