A Peek at the Poulsens

I've neglected to do an official ACT clinic post so here it is, better late than never! After Stockton was diagnosed with autism last May, we went to Omaha each week to have sessions with Leslie, the speech therapist that we met during the diagnosing process. We totally clicked with her and she taught me how to teach Stockton and we made some big strides over the summer. We worked with her while we waited to get a call from one of the more time-intensive autism resources - everything has a wait list and it can take months to years for your name to come up. Leslie knew about the ACT clinic (Autism Care for Toddlers) because they are a satellite office of Munroe-Meyer (where she works) and she has consulted with them in the past, and she said that out of all the potential services in Nebraska we should try for that one because she thought it would be a really good fit for Stockton. I think she may have pulled a few strings because we got a call in early September that there was a s...

 Natalie "graduated" preschool today! They had a whole dance program and got a diploma and it was exactly what you would expect out of such an event. Natalie took everything very seriously during the program and then had fun being silly with her friends afterwards. she was looking around worriedly and broke into a huge relieved grin when she saw us   Isn't this an awesome picture of the three of them?! Makae and Aaron also came but somehow I didn't get any pictures of them. Natalie was VERY excited that Grandma and Grandpa could come! (Shout-out to my dad for staying home with the boys so we didn't have to wrangle them the whole time - thanks for taking one for the team!) she LOVED the photo props Miss Kaycee! She has been MOST wonderful and I'm so grateful for her. Natalie's best friend Willow is coming to Kindergarten with her at Eastridge Elementary next year, yay! And Natalie didn't eat ALL DAY because she was so excited...

 We got new gutters, a new roof, and they took the awful brown awning down, finally. It's not quite so homely as before (but when I'm giving directions I still refer to it as "the ugly brown house").  Jack LOVES dirt. So much. I love letting him play in it. (Thanks Alissa for this particular patch of delight.) I don't, however, love cleaning him up constantly. Sometimes (often) I forget to make sure my kids are clean before we go into public and I wonder what people think of us haha. Especially since the boys aren't usually wearing shoes.  My pan shattered after cooking pork all day and me accidentally turning the wrong burner on and heating up this pan just briefly. I moved it quickly over to this counter and was chopping broccoli when it literally just EXPLODED. Then, ten minutes later, I set a different burner on fire somehow, and then a few days later I broke ANOTHER pan (by just putting it into the cupboard! It must have been brittle already.) M...

Brother/Sister relationships are the best. Here's a good example of what Max's/mine looks like: (Yes, I literally sat here and transcribed our entire text conversation from this morning - complete with pictures - as Max was waiting for his flight (internship in AUSTRIA, nbd)) 8:26AM M: *weeping at the airport listening to Les Mis* J: "To love another person is to see the face of God" like wut [cry emoji] M: "He gave me hope when hope was gone, he gave me strength to journey on" [cry emoji]        literally just teared up typing that hahahah J: Haha me too "the very words that they had sung became their last communion" beep you javert M: Hahaha javert is not lit but so lit J: Haha true. Now I have to watch Les Mis M: that dvd of the live les mis performance is the best with black javert and alfie boe J: yeah but the movie has Eddie Redmayne so M: touche what you don't like Nick Jonas as Marius... J: Haha I'm too ...

I breathe a deep and refreshing sigh of relief every Tuesday. It's the one weekday that I don't have to go to Omaha and instead I get to relax at home, not rush to get the boys ready, sometimes schedule play dates or do errands OR, plan nothing and enjoy not having anywhere to be. I get caught up on housework, have a lot more play time with my boys because I'm not burnt out from racing around and driving all morning, and am generally in a better mood. I used to get bored and feel useless staying at home every day, but now because it isn't the norm I relish it! Here's how today went: Austin and I cooked a delicious hashbrowns, fried eggs, and fruit salad breakfast because the boys and I didn't have to get ready right away. waiting for the bus Austin left for work, Natalie left for school, and the boys and I went to Hy-Vee. They got donuts, I got groceries, and then we came home to finish getting ready. After showering, we went to the Birdsalls to play ...

Austin and I did the Whole30 diet in March - you can eat fruit, vegetables, meat, oils, some nuts, and water, and that's about it. No dairy, soy, gluten, wheat, sugar, preservatives, artificial flavors, legumes, etc etc. It's pretty gnarly but it helped me kick start my weight loss and start to feel better about my health lifestyle. We've since started round 2 of the Whole30 (thirty days of this kind of "raw" eating) and some of our family are doing it with us this time, yay! Shout-out to the solidarity of doing it together! We've found some recipes/foods that really work for us with this kind of diet and I want to post some of them here for future reference and for those who need recommendations (Hi, Afton!!). *a quick note on "cheating" - cheating is highly looked down upon from the Whole30 creators, but there are a few things that I have allowed myself in order to survive this kind of eating even though they aren't technically allowed: soy...

Isn't that the worst name for a park? I'm sure it's named after some benevolent donor but seriously, Stuhr ? Stockton hates when his clothes get wet and it wasn't a battle I wanted to fight that night so he got to be the wild naked child at the park It's a great little park though, only two blocks (but four hills) away from our house. It's small but the kids stay entertained for a surprisingly long time on the playground. The best part though is the canal that runs right next to the park - it has lots of holes and pockets that collect rainwater so the kids love getting wet and throwing rocks and exploring all over. It's perfect - the kids are contained but free to roam.  (I was standing in the same spot looking different ways for these pictures. The boy in white saw the kids in the canal and wanted to come play with them even though he must have been 10 or 11.)  Isn't she fantastic?! She loves posing for pictures.  Stockton, doi...