The great (never-ending) home remodel

Will someone please remind me not to buy a fixer-upper again? When I start talking about how cute and charming it is, stage an intervention.

We are making progress. It's slow progress. The basement is almost finished, thanks to the professionals that actually know what they are doing. We should be painting tomorrow. On the finished side we will have a bedroom (for Cameron) and a playroom (couch, toys, TV) for the kiddos (I'm sure Cam will love the name of that room). The other side will remain unfinished with a large storage area and a laundry room.

When we bought the house, it was sold with a partially finished basement. That was kind of a joke. Paneling (even on the ceiling), one yucky light fixture and nasty old carpet was the "finish". To make it more liveable while we worked on other parts of the house we pulled up the old carpet and replaced it with new Berber. Eventually we painted the walls and added a fun new track light fixture. Then the basement flooded. Up came the carpet and out went the furniture (two stories up).

Here are some pictures early in the life of the basement:

Here it is with the demolition complete:

And here it is with the bedroom framed and drywall up with the first mudding completed.

I can't wait to post the "after" pictures!

A townhome?

Haley was building with her Legos yesterday. A friend of mine saw it and told her what a great castle it was. Haley quickly corrected her and said that it was not a castle, it was a house. Two houses actually. Collected to each other. LOL!

Humor

Haley told me the other day while we were reading a book that one of the people in the book was quite a character. As is she. And these folks:

About a boy

We're excited to announce the arrival of a new child in our home - A boy named Cameron. He weighed almost 10 pounds and was born (almost) 15 year ago. Our nephew has moved in with us. He arrived Saturday. We're all adjusting. And the builders are building. We're hoping he'll be in his new room within a week. I didn't even cry when he started school this morning. It's the homework help that I'm pretty sure will make me cry. Stay tuned for adventures in Cameron-ing.

Haley-ism

Haley, our five-year-old astronomer, continues to impress. Today, Kelsee was going to read Haley the book "The Reasons for the Seasons", a children's book that talks about seasons (duh). After finishing the first page, which briefly explains the Sun's role in our seasons, Haley says, "By my calculations, the Earth is cold while the Sun is hot." Very astute, my little wise one. ------ On another note, Coach Tyndall, MSU's basketball coach, was just named OVC Coach of the Year. What an honor in only his second season! I feel like he has already reinstilled a pride in our basketball program that has been missing for a long time. This year's team was a pleasure to watch. We can't wait to see what next year brings! Thanks, Coach! Keep up the good work.

On a serious note

I just realized that we never really updated after meeting with the neuropsychologist. *sigh* I might have a different update next week after Haley sees her Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician for a follow-up but for now, this is what we know. Haley's medical condition has caused some developmental delays and concerns all along. She has non-progressive brain damage. We've felt very much on top of things and have been blessed to have great medical and therapeutic care for her. She's doing great. She's smart and funny and loving and compliant. Sometimes. In some ways. In some things. She also has a lot of difficulties - anxiety, poor attention skills, very poor coping skills, explosive outbursts, etc. Lately we've had trouble knowing how to help her. We knew she had Sensory Processing Disorder and we expected she would have balance and coordination issues due to her brain malformation but that didn't seem to cover the things we've been worried about. Turns out, she has Nonverbal Learning Disorder. She's very young for an "official" diagnosis (most children are diagnosed many years older than she is currently) but she fits the profile and even has most of the secondary attributes. NLD (also called NVLD) fits closely with pervasive developmental disorders. It has life-long implications. It is similar to Asperger Syndrome. NLD generally includes problems with the following skills: •motoric - lack of coordination, balance problems, and difficulties with graphomotor skills •visual-spatial-organizational - lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perceptions, problems with spatial relations and difficulties with executive function (neuropsychological functions including, but not limited to, decision making, planning, initiative, assigning priority, sequencing, motor control, emotional regulation, inhibition, problem solving, planning, impulse control, establishing goals, monitoring results of action and self-correcting) •social - lack of ability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulties adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment and social interaction •sensory - sensitivity in any of the sensory modes: visual, auditory, tactile, taste or olfactory NLD also has some typical assets - excellent rote memory skills, superior verbal abilities/vocabulary, high overall intelligence (but a large discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ) and strong auditory abilities. What does this mean for Haley? Truthfully, we have no idea! But we expect that she'll continue to delight us and exasperate us. We're excited to see what the future brings for her and for us. Stay tuned!

Curious Georgia

If you don't want to read even more about our obsession, errr, child, then please skip this blog... So, Haley has been curious pretty much since the day she was born. She's always asking questions about stuff - sometimes crazy stuff. She has an astounding memory and remembers seemingly everything she hears. I've been calling her Curious Georgia for years. The other day we asked her what she learned in Primary class (children's church program). She said "everything". Not feeling like that was a good enough answer I asked if she learned about Jesus or Heavenly Father. "Sure" she replies. Feeling a bit frustrated by the poor communication, I decided to tease Haley a bit. I asked her if she learned about Super Novas, the differences between communism and socialism, etc. In response to every question we asked, our sassy lassie said "Yep!" and giggled. Then Jason asked if she learned about the hidden agenda of Karl Marx. Or possibly the hidden agenda of Groucho Marx. I piped in with a question about Richard Marx and soon the adults were laughing pretty hard. Haley just gave us her typical disgusted look. Tired of teasing her, we went on to discuss something else. A few minutes later Haley said, "Uh, by the way guys, what do all of those words mean anyway?" She was serious. Curious Georgia. Jason and I just might not be smart enough to raise this funny kid.

Just Like Robert Redford

So, let me set the stage. We're at the MSU game on Saturday. Haley's thirsty, so she and I head down to the concession stand. Zach (almost three) decides to tag along. No problem going down. However, heading back up the stairs with two drinks, a two year old, and a five year old with balance issues could be a problem. Haley has to hold on, so I carry the drinks, while Haley holds the railing and Zach's hand. Zach, who is much more steady on the stairs than Haley, is practically pulling Haley up the stairs. Haley, looking a little anxious, says, "Wow, Zachy. You are a natural at climbing the stairs." -------- The other day, Kory (or Uncle Stinky as Haley calls him) was coming over. He always wants to play around with the keyboard (musical, not computer). When Haley learns he's coming over, she says, "We need to hide the kapiano." Hularious (another Haley-ism).

I Called It! (plus: Warning! Haley Content)

Aaah, to be loved. This picture was taken during the Easter egg hunt at our church last spring. She had a really hard time that day, for some reason. More Haley content after a brief sports blurb. ---------------- We went to the MSU basketball game yesterday, and let me just say my throat really hurts today. Let me set the stage... We're 3rd in the OVC. A win yesterday guarantees a home playoff game (top four at home). A loss yesterday and tomorrow (which happens to be against #1 Austin Peay) and we could finish as low as 7th. Anyway, we played Tennessee State last, in 7th at the time and victors in our meeting in Nashville a few weeks ago. We come out flat and lifeless and they come out on fire. The ride 68% FG shooting and 84% 3-pt shooting (10-12 from beyond the arc) to a 19 point half time lead. At halftime, as the teams are coming out of the locker room, I look at Kelsee and I say "I feel it. I FEEL it. We're going to pull this out." Her response: "I'm glad you do, but does the team?" Within a minute, the lead is up to 22 points and then It happens. The comeback. By the 9 or 10 minute mark it's in single digits. At the 3 minute mark or so we take the lead and never relinquish it. Final score: 84-76, Morehead. One of the most amazing comebacks I've witnessed in person. And just about the loudest I've heard it in Johnson Arena. Just amazing! And I called it. Sure, some will I was just the overly-optimistic fan trying to psych myself up. But I know the truth. After all, I have been (self-)dubbed "The Great Prognosticator." ------- So music is a pretty big deal in our family, as has been mentioned before here and other places. And Haley already has a clear idea of the music she likes (anything with a good beat, pretty much). I've made her a few CDs to listen to in the car, but we (Kelsee and I) have quickly tired of listening to "Celebration" and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and her other music. Anyway, I came up with the idea to do "family CDs". This would contain a combination of songs: one of Haley's, one of Kelsee's, one of mine, one of Haley's and so on and so on. At first, Haley liked the concept, then when her song would end and it was time for Kelsee's, you'd have thunk we'd have plucked her little curls out one by one. She's adjusted, thank goodness, but now a new attitude has arisen. Whenever we're listening to the CD and Kelsee isn't in the car, she gets this little shifty look on her face and says, almost whispering, "Mom's not here. Let's skip her songs." (She does the same thing to my music if I'm not in the car.) It's hilarious. She thinks she's being soooo sneaky. When we get back in the car, she'll taunt us by saying, in a sing-song voice: "We skipped your songs! We skipped your songs!" And then she'll giggle. She's our resident nut. On that note, if you do something that she thinks is silly or weird or crazy, she'll cirle her finger in the air around her ear and point at you. Like she has room to talk. Where do they get this stuff?

My Response to Kally's Post

So Kally has a humorous post about the software that makes up a husband. Here's my response: First, the woman. The versatile multitasking system, but dang complex and not very user friendly. Then, the man. Simple and user friendly, but pretty limited in scope and function.