Joshua is "having a ball"

Joshua is sitting in a tumble form chair. He is waiting for his speech therapist, Angela, to set up his toggle switch. That is a switch that is placed near his head, kind of like a joystick. The switch is connected to a toy, when Joshua hits the switch with his head, the toy turns on and stays on as long as he keeps his head touching the switch. When he releases, the toy turns off. We are hoping this will allow Joshua to "play" by himself and maybe even do some basic communicating one day! His favorite toy is the bells.

Joshua had 2 therapy sessions today. We had a few minutes between sessions, so Joshua and I got into the ball pit together. Joshua is coming up with a plan to hide from his Physical therapist, Denise.
Joshua and I came up with the perfect plan. I hid him in the balls...Joshua found this funny!
Well, as you can see, Denise found Joshua and he had to follow through with his therapy session. He is working on an exercise ball which helps with trunk and head control, and here they are working on stretching his side muscles. Joshua was a real trooper today. He handled both sessions very nicely, and managed to stay happy the whole time!

Together Forever - Brothers

Jacob wanted to hang out with Joshua and get his picture taken with his "big brother" (by a few seconds).

Jacob absolutely LOVES Joshua. He gives him kisses and hugs ALL the time! Sometimes he will sit on Joshua to reach his face to kiss him. Joshua loves kisses, even if he gets sat on.

Joshua's turn to shine

We enjoy playing outside and Joshua likes to be in the shade on the blanket, so he can "be a part of it all". I was trying to get some shots of his great smile.
We are getting ready to go into therapy. Joshua was in such a great mood today, I just wanted to capture his happiness.
It was one of the first hot days this summer, Joshua was in the shade, but he was sweating like crazy, so we decided to put him in the pool. Tyler and I we "playing catch" with him in the pool while he was in this boat. Contrary to his facial expression, he really did enjoy it! I think Tyler enjoyed playing with his little brother too :).
I tried to get a close up of Joshua enjoying his "boat ride", it was hard to make him smile then get the camera ready. Although it is a baby boat and Joshua's legs do not fit into the holes, he fits perfectly the way I positioned him.

BFF - Best Friends Forever

This is a picture of Jacob and our neighbor, Cole. Cole turned 3 in November and Jacob just turned 3 in May! If they are outside, you can almost count on Jacob being over there with them. Jacob and Cole were playing together so nicely, I had to get a shot. I told the boys to say cheese, and can you believe it, my little ham would not look up from the computer screen. At least Cole smiled for me.
Jacob and Cole took turns so nicely with Cole's computer. Jacob would hold it and Cole would push buttons, then Cole would hold it and Jacob would push buttons! We are so lucky to have such nice neighbors that the parents and the kids can be friends with!

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too??

These are a few of the girls from our Bunco group. L-R Melanie, Renee, Tracey, Jen, Charolette, and Jeana. We went to Villa Macris for dinner. It was a nice ristorante. We enjoyed great food, yummy mango daiquiris, and most importantly GREAT company!
My camera does not capture the beauty of the night, but it does show how great we all look. We have 16 children between the 6 of us. L-R Tracey(3kids), Jeana(3kids), Jen(2kids), Melanie(2kids), Charolette (4kids), and Renee(2kids). This is outside the restaurant, it had all these fountains all over the outside and inside of the place. After this picture we ventured to a bar with a patio (I forgot the name of the place). We had a great time dancing and laughing with each other! Life is so much sweeter with great friends that love you for who you are!! Thanks for a great night girls!!

It's Pool Time

Tyler and Jacob HAD to get into the new pool we got. Even thought the outside teperature was only 65 degrees this particular morning! They did not stay in the pool very long. But, we cannot wait until it gets HOT!!
Tyler tried to use the floatie...hoping it would keep him higher on the water, so it would not be so cold...plan failed!
Jacob did manage to get off the ladder 2 times. He walked a full circle around the pool. Then got right back out. I though he would NEVER leave the ladder! I think his confidence is building. We will get his head under water soon enough!

Tyler & Cousin Nate

Tyler was not so excited to go up to the hospital room. He was relieved to see aunt VIcky OUT of her bed and not attached to "wires" like mommy was when the twins were born. He enjoyed "riding" on Vicky's hospital bed with Jacob. We finally got him to hold Nate, we had to bring Nate to the bed. However - now everytime we visit, he wants to hold his new cousin, Tyler figured out that Nate loves to lay on Tyler's chest! Tyler loves that he has figured out how to pat Nate's bottom and get him to fall back asleep.

Baby Nate & Jacob

When we asked Jacob "Should Mommy and Daddy have another baby?" He replied "2 more babies"...not sure what his plans are, but HE will be our youngest!!
Jacob loves his new cousin - Nathaniel David Blust. Baby Nate almost shared the same birthdate as his cousins Joshua and Jacob. Nate May 21st Joshua and Jacob May 22nd. So they are almost exactly 3 years apart! 2 years 365 days (it was a leap year).
Jacob loved talking to Nate while he was in Vicky's stomach. Now as he holds his new baby cousin he reminds us "I think baby Nate likes me" and he continuously comments "He is so cute"!

Rain, rain, please stay so we can play...

Madison, Lincoln, and Tyler are enjoying the warm, summer, downpour.
Our gutters needed to be cleaned, so Tyler and Jacob (frog umbrella), stood under the POURING water from our gutters. The kids were enjoying the cul-de-sac too. The storms we have had lately come so fast that the cul -de-sac fills up so fast that it forms the greatest puddle to play in!!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

I guess our kiddos need a lesson in ice cream cone eating. It was not even a HOT day!! EAT FASTER KIDS!!

Summer Fun

Although the Ackerley's tend to hibernate in the winter months, Summertime brings us out. It was a cool day today, but we still enjoyed a trip to Dairy Queen with our friends and neighbors. If you follow the circle clockwise you will see - bottom left corner - Jacob(3), Lincoln(4), Madison(6), Tyler(5), Reagan(21 months).

This is a test for the new Ack Pack page...stay tuned :)