Elfin Roberts' clan

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Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for & I love this time of year. Everyone gathers together to spend time as a family. This year has been especially special since Linda & Tiffany came to live with us. We have really enjoyed expanding our family, and Ronnie & Gracie love having a big sister. Linda is teaching me how to cook & helping me prepare for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. She is hosting her family here on Thanksgiving Day while I am going to Ron's family's for the holiday. Then we have Black Friday where I tear up the stores & rush back home to make dinner for my family. Cameron's birthday party is on Saturday & we will have another Thanksgiving dinner with Ron's grandparents on Sunday. Somewhere in there, we will try to squeeze in putting up the Christmas tree & chasing Gracie away from it until Christmas. It's our first year with Linda & Tiffany in our family and we can enjoy Christmas with them this year.

I officially enrolled Gracie in First Steps yesterday. She will begin Speech & Occupational therapy this month. They are more concerned with her balance & falling than her speech. It is something I have noticed, but not realized was a concern. They discussed having her wear leg braces (potentially) to help with her gait. She walks with a very wide stance, has too much flexion in her hips & ankles, & this may be leading to her balance issues. We are still going forward with the ENT & she has an appointment in a week. But because she has learned to walk in such a wide stance, the braces could help re-teach her to walk with her legs straight & help tighten up her ankle muscles so she doesn't keep falling. It's all still up in the air & I'm willing to do what the experts suggest. Anything to help my baby girl. They also noted that she has an amazingly high pain tolerance. I would say so since she falls all the time. She's used to it!

Ronnie has been dealing with allergies lately & I guess I was under some sort of cloud of hope that he would miraculously never get sick again. He went through surgery to make him better & he is sick yet again. So he's back on multiple allergy medicines & I'm praying that he will eventually outgrow his allergies. We went to the doctor the other day for Gracie's sick visit & the doctor suggested we get flu shots for the kids. Ronnie started bawling hysterically. He said, "You said we were here for Gracie." Gracie started stroking Ronnie's hair, and hugging & kissing him - trying to calm him down. The doctor came back later & noticed Ronnie was crying. She immediately suggested the flu mist for him & all was well again. Gracie got the shot & shed only a small tear & then went on her way. She's one tough cookie! On to the pictures...

Tiffany's costume scared Gracie!

Grammy's girls. Don't ya like Neva's hair? Aunt Ruth fixed it!

Tiffany has 2 babies to play with!


Hot mama!


Santa found out Gracie wasn't good this year!

Santa's laughing as Ronnie's wish list goes on & on & on & ...

Playing Webkinz

Aren't they cute together? They sit like this every night & play Webkinz

Big Brother teaches Gracie great things! (Sword fighting???)

One Step, Two Steps, First Steps

Gracie had her First Steps Evaluation on Monday. It went really well. They were here for 2 hours and sat on the floor with her & observed her through play. It amazed me how they could capture her attention for so long & also what they looked at. Throughout the entire 2 hours, she fell countless times. I have always just attributed this to her being clumsy. They also noted that she rarely tried to talk or babble (though she does sometimes, it's not often). Their first recommendation was that she should be seen by an ENT to see if she has fluid in her inner ear. They were concerned that her hearing may be muffled & this could be her reason for slow speech & inner ear fluid could cause poor balance. It also may not be & if not, we will tackle that with speech therapy. I'm just excited to move forward & see if she may have some issues with her hearing that can be alleviated. She has always been somewhat fussy & this is becoming more of a concern now that she is trying to communicate. I can't wait for my baby to say "Mommy".

I'm posting pictures that we took at the pumpkin patch before Halloween. Enjoy...

More Birthday Pics...

My boy turned 6 on October 23rd. I'm attaching some pictures of his costume birthday party...

Baby Neva

Cousin Kacie

Grandma made this cake! Isn't is cute???

Pictures - Finally!

I finally have my computer back & it seems to be working much better. Thank goodness for that! SO much has happened since I last posted pictures. I had almost 300 pictures on my camera. Some of these are random pics & some are from Ronnie's actual birthday. We woke him early on his birthday before I went to a training, so he looked very tired in his pictures! Ronnie got a Nintendo DS for his birthday & that has been well used thus far! On to the pictures...

Happy 6th Birthday!

Enjoying the batter from his birthday brownies...

Ronnie held the camera & took this himself

Gracie ate butter from the trash can!

Why does he always shake his booty when the camera comes out???

Daddy reading to his girl!

Her hair is getting long - finally!

Gracie borrowed brother's costume...

Too sweet

Conversations with a 6 Year Old

Last night, we were driving home after dark. I couldn't see well & said, "I'm as blind as a bat." Ronnie replied, "Mommy, bats can see at night. I heard that on TV." I told him, " Yeah, that is correct. They can see in the dark." Ronnie had a puzzled look on his face, "If they can see at night then they aren't blind." I got a good chuckle out of his logic on that one!

Earlier in the day, Ronnie told me, "Mommy, I want to get off the bus by myself." I was a little sad, but said, "Okay Ronnie, I'll wait inside today for you." Ronnie said, "No Mommy. Not just today. Wait inside everyday. I want to get off the bus without you every day. I can cross the street by myself now."

My boy is starting to get along without me. He's growing up regardless of how hard I try to stop him!

Still waiting on my laptop. Patiently waiting. Patiently. Where the HECK IS MY LAPTOP, GATEWAY???