2 Sisters demonstrate how to use the New Trampoline

Alexis got a new indoor / outdoor trampoline.  Here she is trying it for the first time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Obv8rAFvaw
As you can observe, Alexis is very timid, taking it slowly and trying to judge her own weight and how to make sure she can work it.  (She's also holding on very tight).  Dad is helping because obviously Alexis isn't jumping enough to make it automatically count (it's got a bounce sensor in it). 

Jessica didn't think that Alexis did a great job, so she had to demonstrate exactly how it could be used.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prn5HNrIjSw
That is 13 seconds of how Jessica used it for 10 minutes.  She was almost too tired for dinner after trampoline-time. 

I think Alexis will really enjoy it when Jessica isn't around to push her off of it.

Jessica being a HAM for the camera

Alexis playing outside, while Daddy was doing yard work.  Mom wasn't working at all.

Jessica finished with dinner, trying to get out of her chair.....

Some delays later

It's been a busy time.  After being out of the house in a hotel for a night (from the power outage), Matt left on a business trip.  It was a 10 day tour of Japan.  He had a very productive time.
Grandma and Grandpa Schnaderbeck came to Methuen to stay and help with Alexis and Jessica schedules.  It was a big help to have extra hands here with me.  Matt only got to see them for about 4 hours. 
This past week has been very busy -- Jessica is starting the transition process from Early Intervention to Preschool.  She'll turn 2yrs 9months on April 4th, which seems hard to believe!  She is still our little baby.  But it's good, we are working on getting her more language practice and seeing specialists at Children's to help her learn to talk. 
Alexis has been very busy, obviously school is always very busy.  Then on Thursday, Alexis and Dad went to Alexis' dentist appointment in Boston.  She needs to brush and floss more often, I guess we'll have to put it into her calendar system.  Their trip was successful, but a little eventful.  Alexis' g-tube came out at the hospital - which is ok, they should have replacements, but contacting and finding the right department to get the replacement would have been a hassle.  So, Matt got the Dentist to move quickly and did a g-tube swap out at Perkins (Alexis' school has a spare one).  Of course, now that I type that, I guess they don't have a spare one now - so I should remember to send one in.  Maybe when my mom reads that, she can remind me to do it.  :-)

I posted a video of our messy house but of Jessica putting away the silverware.  Please note that she's a ham for the camera (and somewhat distracted).  She likes helping around the house.  She can't see into the draw and thus can't sort the silverware into the right spaces, but otherwise, she is very helpful and very proud of herself.

She was also distracted by daddy with Alexis changing clothes this morning.  Very much my baby.

Take care, sorry for the delay in posting.
Catherine

Jessica Helping Empty Dishwasher

We're back....

We're back in our house.
Thankfully this time we were only in the hotel (home away from home) for 20 hours.
During that time, though we did an exchange.
We sent Matt to Japan and brought in his parents from Colorado!
Matt left at 4:45am to go to Washington DC, then a flight to Japan.

We managed to get power at the house at 10am this morning.  Thank goodness.  Jessica, Alexis and I moved back in once it was about 61 in the house.  We had lunch and then us girls took naps!  Jessica took the longest nap (~2.5 hours), then Alexis (~2 hours) and then me (~10mins).  I definitely should have petitioned for more.  But Alexis didn't sleep very well the night the power went out (she couldn't sleep with her CPAP).  And then Alexis didn't sleep well at the hotel, I noticed this morning that it was probably because her crib had a slight decline from the foot of the bed to the head (exactly not the way Alexis 'deaf-blind' person needs to be centered in the world -- and with her breathing problems already).  So, she is already in bed.  SLEEPY.

Of course, most humorous was the phone call I received at 7pm from National Grid, "we'd like to inform you that based on our records your house does not have electricity and we are working around the clock to get power restored."  Well, I hope they don't undo anything because right now I have electricity!!!  Very funny.

Hope everyone is well,
Catherine

Electricity at House (an option??)

Hi all,
Like December 12, 2008, our house has decided that electricity is optional.  Evidently it has affected our neighbors as well.
Thankfully, unlike December 12, 2008 - the electrical line is STILL attached to the house, the basement did not have a fire, the house is still liveable.

But we don't have electricity which means that Alexis can't use her CPAP.  It means that we'll probably be staying in a hotel tonight, which is very disruptive since Matt's parents are arriving and Matt is leaving to go to Japan in the morning.

Ah.... how crazy and insane our lives are at the moment.

P.S. 
Matt wrote this to me when he arrived at work:
"I was driving to work - going around the rotary when I heard a funny noise in the car, a soft 'pa pa, pa pa'.
Luckily I did not yet get onto the highway and continued around the rotary to drop Jessica off at the YMCA." 

Awesome New CHARGE Video

Alexis' School "Principal" has made a new video about CHARGE Syndrome and the accomodations that kids need. 
It's an awesome video and features some of Alexis' school mates (they are all older than Alexis).  It's a fabulous video and very helpful to understanding some of the pure awesomeness of Perkins Deaf-Blind program (where Alexis goes to school).
Link to Video: CHARGE Syndrome Impact on Communication and Learning