Wicked Cool Shirts!!

One of my "blogging buddies" is trying to bring her daughter, Abby home from India. One of their fundraisers is this wonderful t-shirt! I absolutely love them, and think they are a must for all of us India Moms!! Here's a link to her blog where she makes it super-easy to order!!

http://needhamfamily5.blogspot.com/

Skiing!

Myles is ready to ski!

Max getting ready for his first time down the hill!

Mason goes down with Daddy. He's ready to ski too!

Winter in Maine means skiing for a lot of people. We live in a very tiny community, but one of the major benefits is this ski slope. Spruce is a tiny little slope with tow ropes instead of chairlifts. My grandfather was just telling me how he helped to build the tow ropes and was the first to start up the one on the biggest slope (orchard), when my Uncle was in high school. Apparently my uncle broke is finger pretty badly the first run down!

Skiing is a very expensive sport, and there's no way we could enjoy it as a family if it weren't for Spruce. The bigger mountains are just too expensive, even for one day passes. My whole family grew up on Spruce and it is wonderful to be able to share that with my own children now. I am very grateful that Dan has the teaching gene, because I don't have the patience to teach the kiddos. He is wonderful with them, and it is so fun to hear them all beg to go with Daddy.

Today was gorgeous - a perfect day for all of us to go up. Myles is now able to go up and down on his own, so Dan thought it was a good time to start Max. He actually went out for groceries yesterday and came back with skis for Max! Spruce is the type of community place where Mason and I are able to watch the kids, hang out in the lodge, and catch up with lots of friends. Just a wonderful place.

This year we almost didn't have this wonderful resource. One of the local paper mills shut down which provided the power to run the tow ropes. Fortunately, at the last minute, a deal was made which allowed the mountain to stay open. This Sunday, Spruce filmed a spot to be sent in to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that we are chosen! It would be such a huge loss to the youth, and the community in general, if this place isn't able to stay open in the coming years!

Take a look at all the fun the kids have!

Once again, more time passed than I had intended. We had an eventful week, with my return to work, Mason's first time at daycare, and some appointments.

Work went fine. Mason did wonderful at Holly's house - he even went down for a nap with no one laying with him! I ended up working more hours than planned, and by the end of the week, Mason was definitely showing signs of not liking it. He was clingy and anxious whenever I left the room. Nothing major, and kind of nice to see that the attachment is definitely there!

We had his appointment with the opthamologist who was not terribly concerned about the strabismus. Neither were we - it has resolved so much from those first few pictures that we had of him. The doc agrees that it will probably continue to resolve on its own.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about providers and services. Many of you know that the big concern that I have had from the beginning is the amount of advocacy I know we'll have to do to get Mason what he needs. I'm not an assertive person by nature, I don't like to hurt people's feelings or make things hard for people. We have Early Intervention services in the home right now. He is eligible for those until he turns three in July. In April we will have to meet and review his plan to start the transition into the Special Education track. It sounds like at that point they will push for him to be in a headstart or some other type of group setting to receive services. I know that this is good for a lot of kids, but it is not where I want Mason right now. At all. And the services we are receiving now are fine - we adore the lady that comes to our house, but I feel like it isn't enough. It isn't as much as I expected. With his issues I really expected to have PT OT and Speech at least once a week, and what we get is just PT once a week, and then that provider can call on an OT or ST if she feels the need. So I am seeking to get him in to a private physical therapist with wonderful facilities and a great reputation. The problem with this is the co-pay. $25 for each visit. Doesn't sound like much, but if we go once a week, that's $100 per month. Remember that we're raising four kids on a teacher and social worker salary. So, we've made the decision to apply for Mainecare for Mason. Our insurance will cover what they normally cover, and then Mainecare (Medicaid for out of staters) will pick up the rest. I was initially nervous that this would cut down on our options, but I think it will open more doors for us in the long run.

The other thing with providers I still haven't come to a decision on. For a long time we have been considering changing Primary Care Providers. My dilemma with that is that I LOVE the doc, but the office is very hard to navigate, it's difficult to communicate with them, and it takes forever to get anything to happen. For instance - even though the office had flu vaccinations this year, they didn't have openings for people to get the flu shot. Max has breathing issues, and Mason was just getting home with multiple medical concerns, and I couldn't get them vaccines. I was able to get them the same day I called at the office in town where we would change to. I think this is going to happen, it's just a matter of timing. I'm not sure what happens to referrals that have been made (cardiology) if we change providers. So it's just complicated.

The kids are all doing great! Reports cards came out and Myles' teacher described him as a "model student" and Madeline's described her as "a gem." Dan's question was, "whose children are we sending to school?" Maddie is missing both of her front teeth. She looks goofy and so much older for some reason. Myles can now ski completely independently which makes it much more fun for all involved. Max is getting used to his role as big brother, and we have lots of fun now when it's me and the two little boys in the mornings. Mason is just thriving. His language increases every day, and he's such a social, charming little guy.

I should have my camera back (thank goodness!) next week, and I really want to get his speech and his physical progress on video because it's pretty remarkable. Until then. . .