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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Getting ready for Summer

So, since my last update, a few things have happened to the Harwood Family. I was called to be the 1st Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency at Church. I am totally excited to work with the youth at church. We just got back from a temple trip with the youth and had a great time. We had a large group there and they were well behaved and reverent the whole time.
Jacob finished Spring quarter (he got an A in his music class) and has a short break before starting Summer quarter. Assuming the college gets his financial aid processed before classes begin, he will start June 5th. He will have his Associate's degree August 15th!
Jacob's work threw us a curveball recently and we are facing 6 weeks of no income for June/July right now. Jacob and I have both applied for a few jobs and we are just waiting to hear now. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Joseph is getting better with all the new strategies his occupational therapist has given us. He loves is velcro schedule. He also loves hanging from the pull-up bar when we put it up in his doorway. I want to get a swing to attach to it. It's neat to see how certain types of play actually help Joseph calm himself down. Not only is his behavior improving, but he is reading more everyday! He still has his moments and we are working on getting him to be better in Nursery at church, but I am thankful for what he has accomplished so far.
Shae is getting bigger and more mobile. He can army crawl really fast if he's motivated. He also loves watching Joseph play. His favorite toys are bouncy balls and his glow worm. Baby Mozart is also a favorite.
We also recently found out that Jared (Jacob's brother) and his wife Allison are pregnant! Congrats to them and we hope Jared will be back from his deployment in time!! We miss them a lot and love Skype so we can still see their faces all the way over in Japan!
I hope to post some pictures of our Summer fun at the zoo and pool and lots of other things!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Lincoln Marathon

My brother Josh ran in the Lincoln Marathon this morning. He ran 26.2 miles in just under 4 hours! He says it's his first and last full marathon. I still can't believe he's smiling after running that long and with Asthma! We kept looking for the bald guy with the bright yellow/green running shoes and a few minutes before 11am we saw him at the finish line.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Busy busy busy

Life has been sort of busy lately. Or at least it seems like it anyway. Jacob is getting things wrapped up at Metro and preparing to transfer to Bellevue University. I am working on my class reunion committee, teaching a little piano, and working on Scentsy.
Shae is getting bigger and has his first tooth! He eats really well and actually ate some spaghetti over at my parents' house the other night. I had just fed him some banana oatmeal and was sitting down to eat my dinner. He kept reaching for it, so I gave him a tiny bite and he just kept wanting more! I guess he's not going to be picky like his brother, or his mom.
Joseph is doing very well with his reading and has 3 or 4 books that he likes to read to me and Jacob. We have a great occupational therapist that comes over every week or so and helps Joseph with some of his behavior issues. Sometimes, Joseph gets over-stimulated and stops using his words to communicate (i.e. screams and hits). I'm learning how to use different techniques to help him cope. Yesterday we started using a weighted vest for a little bit and it seemed to keep him calmer than usual. I have some sewing patterns to make my own since we are borrowing one from the school right now. I also might make him a weighted blanket so he can hopefully stay in his own bed all night. Joseph is also going to start preschool at the end of August after we get back from Utah.
All of the things that have happened since we moved into our apartment really makes me feel that we were supposed to move when we did. The school district has done so much to help Joseph already. He has more testing to go through before we know exactly what the diagnosis is (Asperger's or PDD). I am truly grateful for all the wonderful teachers that are helping us. I was really starting to feel like I was just a bad mother who couldn't handle my 3 year-old, but now I know that I'm not a terrible mother. I can finally hope that things will be just fine.