Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Joe

Husband Tag

1. Where did you meet? Working together at Dunkin Donuts

2. How long did you date before you got married? 1 year, 10 months. Although, I can't really say the last 18 months were dating since we were living together at that point.

3. How long have you been married? It will be 9 years on March 4th.

4. What does he do that surprises you? Occasionally he'll wash the dishes. More frequently he allows Kaitlyn to give him a "hair cut" which requires her putting a bunch of little pony tails in his hair.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? his eyes

6. What is your favorite quality of his? His sense of humor! He keeps me laughing all the time.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Babe, Honey, Honey Bunches

8. What is his favorite color? Black

9. What is his favorite food? this really changes, he loves my chicken picatta though.

10. What is his favorite sport? Wrestling

11. When and where was your first kiss? Okay, this is going to sound weird if you do the math of how long we dated before getting married and when we married. Our first kiss was on September 5, 1997. We dated for a few months in 1997 most of which was long distance. I broke it off a few months in and then when I came back home from college that May we got back together.

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go out to eat, go to a movie, or go bowling.

13. Do you have any children? Yes, three beautiful little cherubs!

14. Does he have a hidden talent? no, not really.

15. How old is he? 37

16. Who said I love you first? Definitely him, the first time we dated. Actually, he said it first when we started dating the second time too.

17. What’s his favorite type of music? country is definitely his favorite, but he also likes rock especially 80's hair bands

18. What do you admire most about him? The way he loves all of us so completely.

19. Do you think he will read this? Probably not, he never reads my blog.


HUSBAND MEME

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV: What is on the screen? Wrestling

2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? He does not like salad, but he'd most likely have ranch or blue cheese.

3. What is one food he doesn’t like? Aside from salad, hahahahaha? Mushrooms.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Long Island Iced Tea.

5. Where did he go to high school? Trumbull High School

6. What size shoe does he wear? 8

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Wrestling paraphernalia.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Probably pastrami. Although, if it's Subway he always gets the Spicy Italian.

9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Beef.

10. What is his favorite cereal? He doesn't eat cereal.

11. What would he never wear? Pink or purple.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Football: Patriots, Wrestling: Kane and Undertaker, most other sports he doesn't like, but because I'm a Mets fan he roots for the Mets.

13. Who is his best friend? ME! ;o)

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? Probably go on and on about the same things over and over again.

15. How many states has he lived in? Two

16. What is his heritage? German, Scottish, and English

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind is it? Ugh, this is a tough one because with him he has one piece of cake and he's done. He usually wants me to bake him chocolate with chocolate frosting.

18. Did he play sports in high school? Definitely not, he was barely at school to play sports ;).

19. What could he spend hours doing? Playing his Wii

A New Car

We brought home our new car today. We purchased a 2003 Dodge Caravan last week. We finished paying our down payment today. So we were able to go pick it up.

It's nice, but we already have some problems with it alreday. First of all I noticed on the drive home that the speedometer doesn't work. So I called the dealer and they told me to bring it back. They think that the wire or something broke and it just needs to be replaced. So we have to bring it back on Monday. We will get a loaner for that.

We did a Carfax report on it last week and found out there was a recall on it. So we asked them about it and they called the manufacturer. Turns out the recall was never fixed so we have an appointment on Thursday at the manufacturer dealership to get that repaired. We were told it's not dangerous to drive around like that though. That's a relief. I'm glad we checked the Carfax report on it because otherwise we would have had no clue about the recall. I'm hoping this isn't a bad sign with all these problems. Best to get them over with now while we still have a warranty though. It's nice to be a two car family again.

This is what my car looks like. This isn't it exactly, but looks just like it.

An Update on Testing

I had the meeting with the principal today. He had spoken to her teacher about things trying to pinpoint what the problem might be. He understands my concerns about dyslexia and the family history. He does believe that there most likely is some sort of learning disability there. The problem is testing at this age with the testing they have doesn't really yield accurate results. And if they test now and she passes, then they can't test again for another three years. We definitely do not want that.

So here is what his thinking is; since Natalie had a speech delay and they have seen a link between speech problems and reading problems they are going to test Kaitlyn's speech. He spoke to the speech therapist with me present and she's going to try and do an evaluation of her tomorrow, but if she doesn't get time then it will be after vacation (in two weeks). If she is sensing a phonemic awareness problem she will put her in a speech group that just works on the sounds and we'll evaluate again in another month.

Now the other issue that we could be experiencing with her is a memory issue. So he's going to talk to the school psychologist to see if there is some sort of memory test we could do on Kaitlyn. These are the two areas we are going to explore now.

He also is concerned that she has a visual difficulty in that she can spell words back to you, but can't put it down in writing. He's also concerned about her concentration. I explained to him how Kaitlyn seems to be listening, but how I have to make her repeat things back to me if it's really important that she does it so I know that she heard me. So in a class setting her teacher might think she's there, but really her mind is wandering. I think that might be actually something that I could talk to her pediatrician about and see if there's any testing we can do there. I have CJ's 15 month well visit in March so I will talk to her about it then Hopefully by then I will have some idea of where the unofficial testing the school is doing is going.

So I felt it was a productive meeting and the principal does share my concerns. He agrees that in a situation like Kaitlyn's keeping her back is not the answer. Because if it's a learning disability like he suspects then keeping her back won't solve the problem. He says generally they only keep children back if they truly believe it's going to help them. So for example if they have a late birthday like December or if there's a social aspect like moving from another country and learning the language. Neither of these obviously fit Kaitlyn and since I've helped to put that bit of concern in his ear I think he is leaning towards a disability. We will see how things go over the next few months with her. It's almost like we are easing her into some special education. She will continue to receive all the extra support she's getting in reading. We will continue to work with her and maybe even a little speech in there too will help and all things will start to click with her. And any concerns about her writing her letters and numbers backwards wouldn't be addressed until this time next year in school anyways because that could definitely be a developmental thing.

Letter to Principal

I am meeting with the principal today at Kaitlyn's school to discuss her reading. I am requesting that he test her for learning disabilities and someone suggested I put that request in writing to the principal. Something about they have to take action when there is a request in writing. So whatever it takes to hopefully find an answer to Kaitlyn's reading troubles. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Mr. Audette,
I am writing in regards to my daughter Kaitlyn Barnes most recent reading test. She is reading at a DRA level of 6 at this point in time which I understand to be substantially deficient. I am very concerned and strongly urge you to have her tested to make sure there are no learning disabilities holding her back.

Kaitlyn works so hard at reading, but yet she seems to be at a stand still. She is receiving lots of assistance at school and at home as well, but there are days when she cannot read her high frequency word list and days when she can. I have spoken with Mrs. Gokey about where we go from here and I know she’s been documenting the things that are happening with Kaitlyn in class. I have also expressed my concerns to Mrs. Gokey and even last year to Miss Bouvier that she could have dyslexia. There is a strong family history of dyslexia as she has an aunt and an uncle with it and numerous cousins. I do not believe that retention is the best option for her though since for the most part this is the only area where she is struggling. This is why I strongly urge that we test and find a new approach to teaching her reading.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I hope that we can work together in helping Kaitlyn learn to read. She enjoys school so much and I would hate to see her become discouraged if there was anything we could do to help her.

Sincerely,

Monica Barnes

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Chefs

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Talk about Restless Leg Syndrome

15 Months Ago Today

I was in the hospital having just given birth to this beautiful little boy. Look how big he's getting. He impresses me every single day with what he can do. He's standing longer and longer now. It won't be long before he's taking his first steps. He jibber jabbers all day long and it's so sweet to hear. He's learning some sign language. He now can say "more" in sign.

He eats everything we eat now. He's such a good eater. He loves noodles, grilled cheese, jelly and cream cheese sandwiches, cheerios, eggs, yogurt, raisins, and so much more. They grow up so fast. I miss the tiny baby, but I love the mischievous little boy he is becoming.