Speech Therapy

Ryan's former speech therapist,  Nikki, left to take another job back in May and we've been on lists and waiting for a replacement speech therapist since then. Here's a quick reminder about our buddy, Nikki. Before she left, Nikki did a quick screening on both Stokes and William and decided they both could use an evaluation to see if they qualified for and/or needed any speech therapy. We loved Nikki and were so sad to see her go. She did a great job!

Fast forward a few months after waiting a while (because, really, who knew there was a Speech Therapist shortage in Greenville!!??) and we got a formal evaluation done. The person who did our evaluation did not impress me and I decided I did not want to use her for services moving forward. She did, however, score the evaluations and Stokes and Ryan both qualified for speech. William is probably a little behind as well, but he's close enough to the normal range that he doesn't need extra help. 

Enter April, our new Speech Therapist! She will work with Stokes and Ryan on a weekly basis. In case the name April sounds familiar, our Early Interventionist is also named April, so that could make for some interesting conversations and future confusion, but hey, after being on a speech waiting list for 2 months, we're OK with a little name confusion! :)

April has come for 3 appointments at this point and is great! She is very patient with the boys and has gotten Stokes to say quite a few words for her. Along that same line, I think Stokes is very close to a break-through where he'll begin to talk up a storm. Stay tuned! Hopefully he won't need therapy for too long. 

April does not have much experience with feeding, which is an area that I'd like for us to focus on with Ryan, so it's a concern of mine. Emily, our OT, does work with Ryan on feeding occasionally, but he was getting a 2 pronged approach with Emily and our old speech therapist, Nikki. I'm hoping that April will either be willing to do a little feeding training, work with Emily in a combined effort with some feeding goals/therapy or be willing to just try it. She's been very honest that it's out of her comfort zone, but I do think it's an area where Ryan needs to progress. He's made some major strides, but is still not 100% on solid food, still drinking from a bottle vs a sippy cup, and still doesn't self-feed. I don't want to put too much focus on it, because he is progressing, and I think he'll continue to do more and more, but I also don't want to not give it the attention that it needs. I really like April and don't want to not work with her over the feeding issue, so we'll see how it goes for a while. If I feel like Ryan really needs more help with feeding, there are a few options. We can 1) look for a new speech therapist with more feeding experience, 2) try to see if we can get Emily to add another weekly appointment for 30 minutes to work exclusively with feeding, 3) begin going to Clarity specifically to work with a feeding therapist. All of this will also be contingent upon insurance and BabyNet approval. Sooooo....we're just going to see how it all plays out. Did I mention I hate making decisions? Sigh...

April and Stokes

April and Ryan

We look forward to getting to know April better and seeing some progress with both boys with their speech.

In other therapy news, William had an Occupational Therapy Evaluation done by Ryan's OT, Emily, and it was determined that he did not need OT. Yay! Check it off the list. The OT eval was a recommendation we got from the Development Clinic that we attended in April (yes, it took that long to have the conversations, get the paperwork complete, get everything through the systems, make the appointment, complete the eval and get the paperwork back - whew!). In addition, William will have his last PT appointment this Friday. Ashley, our PT, thinks he's made some major strides with his gross motor skills and doesn't feel like he even needs therapy anymore. Great news! 

National Granddad Week

The week of July 14 - 19 was National Granddad Week. Ok, that's not actually true. It was more like National Peery Family Granddad Week. The boys got to see both of their Granddads in one week! Jackpot!

You may remember that my dad moved to Jacksonville, FL last summer. When I was thinking about it, I realized that we hadn't seen him since he moved. Getting all the way to Jacksonville seems like a big undertaking for us! I know we'll do it at some point (and it doesn't hurt that he lives about 15 minutes away from the beach), but whew! It will definitely take some effort!!! So we haven't seen him in quite a while. He called and said he wanted to come up and visit and we were totally on-board and welcomed him with open arms. I, unfortunately, had to work during the day, but really enjoyed the evenings and mornings I got to spend with him and his daughter, Shanghai.

Granddad and Ry-Ry

Guess what! We had a few family bonuses. My niece, Kaitlyn, was visiting her Grandma on her dad's side, Martha, who lives nearby, and Martha brought her by to see the boys. What a great opportunity to see her cousins and get some QT with her Granddad as well. Kaitlyn is so beautiful, inside and out, and loves her little cousins so much! I miss her a lot and was so so glad to get to see her and spend some time with her. She loves the boys and immediately ran to them to hold them and hug them. She kept taking pictures with them on her iPad. :)

Kaitlyn and William

Sweet moments

Ryan and Martha

Kaitlyn and William

The whole gang:
Stokes, Shanghai, Ryan, Granddad, William and Kaitlyn

Playtime!

The boys and their Granddad

Kaitlyn and Stokes

Ryan and Granddad

Stokes and Kaitlyn playing on the iPad

William and Kaitlyn...and the iPad

Snuggle time with William

Snuggle time with Stokes

Snuggle time with Ryan

Smooches!

William playing with Shanghai

Guess what, #2!!! Taylor (or Tay Tay, at the boys say) was in town staying with MaSha and they got to come over and visit as well! We ended up with a house full of family on this evening and it was awesome! The boys were truly in heaven!!! Like Kaitlyn, Taylor is an awesome big cousin. She takes such an interest in the boys and babysitting is definitely in her future. You can just tell how awesome she is with kids and how much she enjoys spending time with them. She's such a nurturer and helps with the boys so much whenever she's around.

Taylor and Ryan

Kaitlyn and me

Tickle time - Kaitlyn and William

Sweet smiles for cousins!

Granddad and William

Kaitlyn and Ryan

The boys and their sweet big cousins

We only got one evening with Martha and Kaitlyn but luckily for us, MaSha and Taylor came back to spend some more time with us.

Taylor and Ryan

William and Shanghai

Something interesting on tv?

Checking out Granddad's dog, Barbara

Playtime!

Stokes grabbed Shanghai's hat and
was wearing it

He's a mess but so dern cute!

We all had a great time with Granddad Stokes, Shanghai, Martha, Kaitlyn, MaSha and Taylor over those couple of day a few weeks ago. We were sad to see them go. We really are going to have to plan a trip to see everyone again soon.

When the weekend rolled around, we were off to Tazewell, VA to see the other Granddad, Abby!

Abby with his grandsons

When we got to Abby's house, Stokes immediately zoned in on Abby's hats. He's an accessorizer, remember? :) He cracks me up!

William went straight over to Abby's couch and immediately took to this furry blanket. He kept calling it a "doggie". LOL

William snuggling with the "doggie", aka furry blanket

He loved it

Ryan did, too!

On Friday evening after we got settled in, we loaded up the boys and went out in the Polaris 4 wheeler. We road up over the hill in the back of Abby's house and came up right close to a lot of cows. You should have heard William and Stokes - they were going bonkers saying, "mooooooooo"! So fun!

Saturday morning...

The boys and their Da-da hanging out on Saturday morning

Fun on the couch (and more snuggling
with the "doggie")

Stokes..chillin'

They loved this alphabet magnet game
on the fridge

my precious Ryan

After breakfast on Saturday, we got the boys dressed and headed over to Joey and Lisa's house. Joey is Thomas's BFF from growing up and Lisa and I get along wonderfully! They have Davis, who is just a few weeks older than the boys. We set up a playdate for all the boys (littles and the grown boys) and Lisa and I took Ryan and did a little shopping around Tazewell. We went to Between Friends, a super cute gift store (and I hear they sell these awesome Rocks and Ruffles bracelets - not sure where they get them!!! ;), and a new, cute boutique, the Retail Therapist. I love supporting local businesses and it doesn't hurt that both stores are adorable! It was nice for Thomas and Joey to get to spend some time together, all the little ones got along and had fun so it was a win-win-win.

BTW, Joey and Lisa's house is a kid's paradise! Toys, lots of space and a friend to play with - what more can you ask for?!?! And it's also a paradise for those that like to look at pretty things. Lisa has a great eye for detail and decorating. Lisa, please come help me!! :) I wish I had taken some pictures inside their house - it's gorgeous!

Joey and William

Davis!

Playtime

Lots of guys

Davis's wheels

Vrrmmm, vrrrmmmm

Another car!

All 3 of them squished in there - so funny

Davis had so much fun with the boys that when we loaded
them up to leave, he crawled into the van and sat between
Ryan and Stokes. He didn't want to come out! HA

We went straight from Joey and Lisa's to Fifi's to have lunch. Granddad, Gran-O and Mag came over to have lunch with us, Fifi and Jerry.

Mag, Ryan and Granddad

Granddad holding Ryan

Stokie

Cutie boy!

Gran-O brought the boys a book all about trucks. William
was immediately in love!!

Da-da and Stokes

Mag was holding Ryan and rubbing his belly and
he passed right out!

No sleep for this guy! He grabbed his sunnies and
ran around the yard

Fifi and Jerry have quite a nice garden. She planted carrots for the boys, knowing that they like carrots, and let the boys get their first taste of gardening. She picked some snap peas and let them eat the freshly picked peas right there on the spot. I tried a few too and they were delish! Fifi also let the boys pull some carrots and also let them pick these delicious, sweet, fresh blueberries right off the bushes and gobble them up.

Tomatoes

Blueberries

Heading out to the garden with Fifi and Jerry

Picking a pea pod

Yum yum!

There were more than 3 peas in these pods! Haha ;)
They were yummy!

Time to pick carrots - William first

Check out this big, ole carrot he got!

Then it was Stokes's turn. He grabbed
a whole handful!

Carrots picked!

He was proud

Carrots for the boys!

Blueberry time

They were popping them in their mouths and
eating them as fast as they could

Ryan wasn't picking berries, so we brought some extras
for him to try.

Mag gave the boys something in a solo cup - it was probably
against the rules! ha

After lunch and picking fruit and veggies at Fifi's, we headed back to Abby's and let the boys lay down for a nap. It was a busy morning for them and they definitely needed a little shut-eye. After their nap, we got into another adventure....and this one just may have been the highlight of the trip! Abby got his....drumroll...TRACTOR!!! The boys love tractors!

William and Stokes in the driver's seat

Not so sure?

Abby in the driver's seat and Ryan
in the loader (on a cushion!)

Abby and William

Cruisin' in the John Deere
In truth, William didn't actually love riding on the tractor.
He was crying. I think it was a little loud for him!

Abby and Stokes

Stokes wasn't sure if he liked it either

Abby and Ryan

Da-da and Stokes in the loader

Family tractor ride!
The boys were a lot less scared when they were being held

So much fun!

Southern family :)

After the tractor ride, we all got ready to head out to dinner.

Woot woot! Love my fam!

Abby and the boys

The hand-off...it's always funny to me to watch the juggling

We had dinner at a local classic, Cuz's Uptown Barbeque. We pretty much always go there when we're in town. It's so eclectic and GOOD! This was the first time we ever attempted to take the boys. The good news? They were AWESOME! We had enough high chairs, the boys took down some food, there was no crying and it really was a very good experience!

Ryan

Stokes

William

Abby, Thomas and William

Ryan, me and Stokes

Posing with the pigs outside after dinner

Oink, oink

On Sunday morning, we took the boys to church at Main Street Methodist. This was the church where Thomas grew up and a lot of his family still goes there. The sweet members of this church have been praying for the boys since way before they were born and most of them had not met or seen the little guys yet. Fifi especially really wanted us to come to church and show them off to the congregation. They looked so cute (I forgot to take any pics - I know, it's surprising since I take billions of pics of everything) and really did pretty well! Ryan fell asleep in Abby's lap, Stokes "drew" with a pencil on the bulletin and ate from his snack cup, and William was busy looking around and making eyes and waving at everyone. They were a big hit! Stokes did have to be taken out and allowed to walk around at one point, but overall I thought they were very well behaved and I was so proud. We got a lot of comments (and compliments!) about how cute, sweet and personable they were. I was probably beaming!

Can you tell it was a great weekend in Tazewell? Heck, it was a great week all together! Family is so very important to us and although we don't get to see the boys' granddads all that often, we can really appreciate the time that we spend with them. It was a great Peery Family Granddad Week! We're so appreciative of both of the Granddads and love them so much.