Christopher goes to Kindergarten!

Christopher started Kindergarten on Wednesday September 5, 2012! He is going to Poplar Bridge Elementary and his teacher is Mrs. Meinhardt. He is going half-day every day in the afternoons and is riding the bus to and from school. He rides home on the bus with Sydney. His first day went well minus a few small glitches. The first small glitch was the fact that Christopher stepped in some dog poo just minutes before his bus was due to arrive. He then proceeded to get upset and get it on his hands! He and I quickly ran to the house cleaned his shoes and hands and checked his clothes over to make sure there was nothing. We got back out to the bus stop to find Noah had it on his shoes also and got it on his pants. Brad and I worked furiously to clean him up and wash our own hands yet again. Thanks to whatever neighbor of ours that chose not to clean up after their dog, they almost made us miss getting pictures of our boy on his special day!
The second glitch was the fact that Christopher's bus was 25 minutes late to pick him up. We put him on the bus and then drove to Poplar Bridge to watch him walk in to school. School is supposed to start at 12:35 and 12:35 came and went and still no bus. There were several parents standing there waiting for their kids not just Brad and I. Pretty soon 1:00 comes and goes, still no bus. Then it was 1:15 and still no bus. Around 1:30 the bus finally pulls up to the school! Chris was the first one off and boy was he thrilled to see us! A little sweaty and disheveled, but otherwise good. We introduced him to his para and his special education teachers that will be working with him as they were there waiting for him to get off of the bus.
Boy was I happy to see him when he arrived off of the bus in one piece! Sending him to Kindergarten was a very big deal, especially because we went sure before school began if he would be able to be mainstreamed in a regular class. There had been talk that he might have to go to a more specialized Kindergarten for students with Autism, but at the end of last year, his Preschool teacher, who is an Autism specialist and the rest of his IEP team decided that he could go to his home school, Poplar Bridge.

We are so very thankful to all of the people who helped Christopher get to this milestone. I don't know or remember all of the names so please do not be offended if I do not mention you, we are still extremely grateful!

Chrisenda Hasenbank: Christopher's first speech therapist who helped him find his voice! You helped him so very much and we think you are amazing!
Gaye Lynn Sarff: Christopher's first preschool teacher, who had amazing patience and understanding for Christopher and compassion for parents who were going through a challenging time hearing that their son had autism. Thank you Gaye Lynn for all you did for Chris!!
Kristine Smallfield: Christopher's second preschool teacher/autism specialist. Thank you for your never ending patience with Christopher and helping him to achieve so many of his IEP goals. He wouldn't be where he is today without you.
All of the other occupational therapists, speech therapists, adaptive phy ed teachers, and paras who have worked with Christopher, thank you for being there for him and helping him along the way. You have all been a very important part of his journey to get here!

My sister, Sara who as an OT has been a huge resource and support to us on this journey. Thank you for giving me tools to help Christopher eat and all of the other resources. I don't know what we would do without you! Thank you for all that you do for Chris and for us.

My mom, Betty for being there and giving her support whenever we needed it. It means the world to us. Thank you for all that you do for Chris and for us.

Brad's sister, Michelle for always being there and supporting us whenever we need someone to talk to or bounce ideas off of. It means a lot to us that we have you in our corner! Thank you for all that you have done for Christopher and us.

Here are some photos from his first day of Kindergarten!

Thanks to everyone who has been here for us on our journey! We are all so happy to have you in our lives!

Love,

Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah

Family Update, Spring 2012

Well, the winter sure flew by! It is hard to believe that Spring is here (though the temperatures this week seem more winter like!) Here's what we have been up to all winter.....

Brad has been BUSY going to school! He has a tough course load this semester and is taking 11 credits. I know some out there may not think that is much, but it is when you are trying to balance working 40+ hours a week, a wife, and kids. It sure doesn't leave him any spare time that is for sure. I know that he gets frustrated, and he struggles, but he is doing so well! Just when he finishes one week's worth of homework, he has a whole new pile to tackle. I know there have been plenty of times when he has asked himself why he is doing this. I went through the same thing when I was in school. I am so proud of you Brad! Keep up the good work!!! :-)

Sydney is doing great in 1st Grade! She had a great report card last term and loves going to school so much! She loves to read, do math problems, draw, write stories, and create things. Last month she and Brad designed a leprechaun trap together for school. They had a lot of fun doing it. I will try to figure out how to post a video of the project! It's so much fun to listen to her read stories to her brothers! :-) She is looking forward to playing soccer in the summer and hopefully we will finally get her in to the karate class that she has been interested in. 

Christopher is doing so well at preschool. Yesterday he surprised me by writing his first and last name! I knew he had his first name down but I hadn't seen the last name yet, so it was a nice surprise. He has also been reading books on his own. He does so well with sounding out words. His favorite books to read are Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Cat in the Hat. We are SO proud of him! Hard to believe he will be 5 in a couple of weeks!

Noah is doing great. His speech therapy is going well. We are having so much fun being able to communicate with him! :-) He loves reading books, drawing, and playing with his siblings. He and Christopher are best of friends at times and at each other's throats at other times. They are pretty cute together! So hard to believe that our baby will be 3 in a month! 

I have been keeping busy too! Work is pretty busy right now and busy is good! We are getting ready to go through the accredidation process again, so that is extra busy and a little stressful at times, especially with 12 babies, some of them brand new! :-)   I am also pleased to announce that my company has honored me with a Teacher of Distinction award. The awards banquet is this Thursday night. Thanks Jeff and Jeanne for agreeing to watch the kids so I am able to go! I was quite shocked as well as honored when I heard that I was receiving this honor. I love being a teacher to those babies. They make it easy! There aren't too many jobs out there where you get to rock babies to sleep, play with them, and snuggle with them. Thank you to those of you who have left your children in my care. I have loved each and every one of them! 

Until next time...

Love,

Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah

Fraser Walk for Autism

Dear Family and Friends,

As many of you know, our family has committed to walking in the Fraser Walk for Autism this Saturday, April 14. Fraser helps so many families out there, especially families affected by Autism, much like our own. We decided that this would be a wonderful experience for our family, and that it would teach our children the important lesson of helping others. We are pleased to have reached our fundraising goal for the walk plus some! Thank you so much to all of who have supported Team Christopher! It means so much to all of us. We will post photos from the event sometime in the near future.

Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah

Happy Holidays 2011 from The Mallers!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us once again. I really love this time of year. It is fun to drive around and see the lights that people put outside and I enjoy decorating our tree with the ornaments that were collected for me since I was a child. Of course, I also have kept this tradition going for my kids and I hope that they will pass it on to their own children. I have never had to worry about how I was going to decorate a tree that is for sure! I am proud to say that the majority of my ornaments were handmade by my grandmother, my mother, or others. There are those that I treasure more than others, like a photograph ornament of my paternal grandparents, an ornament crafted from the ash of Mt. St. Helens, an ornament ball that was given to me on my first Christmas in 1975, and ornaments that hung on my mom and dad's first Christmas tree are among my favorites. Do you have any favorite ornaments or holiday traditions? Besides receiving a new ornament every year there are also other family traditions that I have fond memories of. Growing up, I always spent Christmas Eve (or nearly always) at Grandma and Grandpa Rogers house. Most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins would be there.We would eat chili, my grandma always made donuts (homemade), pfefferneuse, and spritz, there would also be a variety of appetizers like Aunt Mary's triscuits (yum)! There was always a lot of food that is for sure! Traditionally we started out the evening by gathering at the cemetary near my Aunt Trish's grave. We always bring a Christmas tree, which we decorate with popcorn strings, cheerios, fruit loops, cranberries, etc. Then we always sing some Christmas carols. Usually We wish you a merry Christmas, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World (which always ended up including a Three Dog Night version by my dad and Aunt Kathi), and Silent Night. Once we wrapped up at the cemetary we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's where when we were all little there would usually be a visit from Santa and more Christmas carol singing if we wanted our presents and then it was gift time! It was always mass chaos because there were so many of us! We usually would end up playing games after the presents were opened too. My cousin Terri is the queen of trivia games! :-) Christmas Day was spent in Wisconsin with my mom's side of the family usually. We always had a big meal and when my sister and I were really little we got pretty spoiled because we were the only young kids for a long time..Wisconsin Christmases usually included lots of good food, Tom and Jerry's and a lot of fun (at least for me). Since my dad passed away fourteen years ago, Christmas has really not been the same. It always feels like there is someone missing on that day. Having the kids has helped because it is fun to watch them play with my sister's kids and it is fun to carry on some of the old traditions like board games and stockings. The food is always good and there is always good conversation. I like it Christmas better on the years that Brad does not have to work, because when he works I don't only miss my dad, I miss him too. For me, holidays are about being with the people that you love and making lots of memories. The last several years my sister and I have been getting together to bake and decorate cookies with the kids. Good bonding time for the kids, as well as my sister and I. My mom usually joins in on the fun as well. This year my youngest nephew, Eric had written letters to each of us for us to open when we arrived. Brad's was especially awesome because Eric wrote that he was so glad to have Brad as an uncle! It sure made him smile :-) Family Update Brad just completed his first semester back in college. I am happy to report that he got a 4.0 GPA this quarter. I am beyond proud of his achievements, thought I have to admit that I was not worried, because he is a smart guy and I knew he would do it because he has his mind set to do it and Brad always completes a task when he has his mind set to it, even if he isn't always confident that he will do so. He is still working full time and at home with the kids in the mornings. He will start classes again in January and I think that he will be taking 4 classes this coming semester. Sydney started first grade. She is in Ms. Maynard's class and she loves it. She is doing really well in school. Her teacher told me during conferences that she has no concerns about Sydney, that both her literacy and math skills are wonderful. She actually is reading at a higher level than most of her classmates. She is pretty good with numbers most of the time too. She played soccer during August, September, and October. She had a lot of fun and her team had a winning season. She made several good friends, some of which go to the same school as her. We have been trying to figure out an activity for her to do for the winter, but have not totally made a decision on that yet. She turned 7 in November and we had two parties. One for family and one for her friends. She also had her very first friend sleepover (Jeff and Jeanne's daughter Julia). Last week she had a music program and was also excited to have daddy come to school to make a Gingerbread house with her! On Thursday, we have her holiday party! Christopher started a 2nd year of preschool. He is going to an Autism specialized preschool. His teacher is an Autism specialist. There are 3 other teachers in his room as well. He also spends time with speech and occupational therapists, as well as an adaptive phy-ed teacher. At his IEP meeting in October we were told that he had met most of his goals on his IEP (Way to go Christopher!) so they had to make new goals. Right around Sydney's birthday we got to see him write his name for the first time! Quite the feat considering the fact that he really struggles with his fine motor skills. He sure does try hard though! Christopher even played soccer this fall. He wasn't always happy about having to go because it wasn't a normal part of his routine, and he didn't always participate the way a "normal" child would. We were just proud of him for giving it a chance. In November we took him to Fraser for his evaluation to get a medical diagnosis. After a three hour assessment, they determined that Christopher is classified as PDD-NOS, which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Non specified. He will still continue to receive all of the same services, there are just additional services that they would like him to take part in, which we will do as we can afford them. It is a hard journey for us, but Christopher is so worth it. Take a look at this moving video in this link.. It's hard to believe that next month we will be registering him for Kindergarten! Noah is having fun going to his speech group one day a week. He does have some delay with his speech, but they are nowhere near the severity that Christopher's were when we began his journey. Noah is a very social child and he does not have any issues interacting with others. There has been no mention of Autism to us, and there have been no signs. What we are working with for him is a speech delay and those are quite common especially with youngest children. He loves riding the bus to and from school, though he usually cries when separating from Brad, but his teachers have assured us that he is fine at school. Noah actually is working with the same speech therapist that Christopher worked with when we started his journey. He is growing fast and learning new words everyday. He has quite the personality now! I have been keeping busy at work. Lots and lots of new babies to care for! :-) Excited about things to come in the new year. I have also taken on the responsibility of being a head room parent for Sydney's classroom this year. (I am in charge of all the parties and the planning of them) It has been fun to do, even if I do get a little stressed out at times. Merry Christmas and Happy 2012 to all of you! With love, Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah Maller

Who can believe it?

How can it be the end of August already? This summer sure did fly by! We have had a very busy August. What have all of you been up to?

We were fortunate to spend a weekend with my extended family (my mom and my sister and her family). We celebrated the birthdays of my nephews (Nick and Eric) and my niece (Audrey) at the splash park in Princeton. We had never been to a splash park before so our kids didn't know what to expect. Sydney jumped right in with the other kids and had a blast. Christopher and Noah took a while to join in on the fun. Once they gave it a try they were both fine. It was pretty cute! After a couple of rather strong rainstorms we all had our family photos taken, which despite the soggy ground was quite a pleasant experience with so many people. Here is a link to the resulting photos: http://nextgeneration.zenfolio.com/p54509165

This past weekend we took a mini-vacation to Big Sandy. We stayed in a hotel up there and had fun swimming in the pool and spending time in the boat on the lake. We didn't get the boat out as much as we would have liked (it gets a little rough with three kids 6 and under!) It was a nice little get away and the last hurrah of the summer for us.

Sydney started BAA soccer last night. She is #6 for team Germany (kind of a different name). Her shirt is having her name put on it right now so there are no new pictures yet! She has to practice two times a week for the next few weeks and then she will start games on the 7th of September I believe. She seemed to have fun and that is all that matters. It is nice for her to be active!

Christopher starts BAA soccer on Saturday. I am interested to see how that goes. He will be playing for the Meteors. I hope that he will enjoy it. He really wanted to do it and we thought it was only fair if we let him try.

Sydney starts first grade on September 6th. We find out who her teacher is on the 1st at her school ice cream social. I hope that some of her friends from last year are in her class. She loved them all so much! Just last week one of her school friends came over to play. We sure had fun!

Christopher starts his preschool/therapy on September 12. This year he will be going 4 afternoons a week from 1:10-3:40. Fortunately he is bused so that helps with the running around. He is pretty excited!!

With Sydney at school all day (she arrives home at 3:25) and Christopher at school in the afternoon it will be pretty quiet on Mommy's shift. Noah and Mommy will try to have some bonding time. :-)

We had Noah assessed for speech services. He just was not talking the way that I thought he should be (he only has about 8 words and they are not that clear). He does qualify for services, I just am not sure when he will be going and how often yet. We should find that out soon.

Brad started school on Monday. He is taking classes at Normandale. I am so proud of him and I know that he will do great. Even if he thinks he won't. I know how hard it is to work, take classes, be a parent and a spouse, but I also know that if I can do it, he can!

Looking forward to seeing some of my relatives for my Grandma's 89th birthday next month and also for my cousin Jen's baby shower. It will be a great time :-)

Until next time...
Stacey

August Birthdays...

I know this is a little early, but I would rather be early than not remember! :-)

Happy Birthday to...

August 1: Cousin Tonia
August 2: Cousin Donnie
August 17: Uncle Gary
August 18: Cousins Rand and Matthew
August 26: Cousin Shantell and brother in law Matt
August 29: Cousin Heather

Happy Anniversary to...

August 2: Cousins Tim and Amy
August 6: Dad and Kathy
August 10: Aunt Kathi and Uncle Dennis
August 11: College friends..Mike and Stacy
August 14: College friends Greg and Kristin
August 18: Uncle Bill and Aunt Ila

Sorry if there is anyone that I forgot. Love you all!

Happy July!

Did everyone have a good July 4th holiday? I know we did! We did all of our celebrating before the 4th though since Brad had to work on the actual holiday. We spent Saturday night at the drive-in in Cottage Grove. We love doing that and it has been a tradition to go every summer since Christopher was a baby. Unfortunately this will be the last summer we will be able to go to that drive in since it is closing down....sad! On Sunday the 3rd we attempted to go out fishing on Prior Lake. Big mistake! WE got on drove around a little and discovered it was a zoo. Guess we should have been clued in that it wasn't a good idea when we couldn't find a place to park at the boat launch! Luckily Jeff came to our rescue and let us park at his house and then came back and got Brad. That evening we attended the Summer celebration in Bloomington so we could watch Fireworks over Normandale Lake. It was a beautiful display, one of the best I have ever seen. Too bad it took so long to get out of the parking ramp we parked in (nearly an hour). I was starting to feel clausterphobic! On the actual 4th of July the kids and I filled the swimming pool and played outside as it was REALLY hot!

It has been a busy week so far this week! Last night I signed both Sydney and Christopher up for BAA soccer. They are both excited to play. Christopher and I were actually kicking the ball around this afternoon and I think he might do well. At least, I hope he will. :-) Tomorrow we are taking him to the audiologist at Children's Hospital Minneapolis to have his hearing tested. We have also been working with Fraser to have him assessed for Autism, but there is a waiting list of 7-9 months to be assessed. He has had a pre-assessment and we are looking in to the different therapy services that Fraser has to offer. We are even going to do a consultation for music therapy. Christopher may even be able to take some music lessons.

This weekend the plan is to get together with Michelle and the girls. We are hoping to maybe meet at Big Sandy and spend the day there. Hope the weather will cooperate!

Enjoy your week!

The Mallers

July Birthdays and Anniversaries

We would like to wish the following a very happy birthday!

July 1: Joshua Hager
July 3: Julia Hager
July 6: Jenny Truax
July 20: Erika Huff
July 27: (A big day in our family...) Reed Pederson, Eric Pederson, and Samantha Emme
July 29: Nicholas Pederson

Happy Anniversary to...

July 12: Michelle and Matt Emme
July 27: Gary and Susan Rogers, Travis and Jaime Rogers
July 29: Terri and Donnie Fetters

FUN, FUN, FUN!

What a fun summer it has been for our family so far and we still have so much left to do!! :-) School ended for both Sydney and Christopher in June. Sydney's kindergarten graduation was on June 9th. If you'd like to see a video, check out my videos on Facebook as I have posted it there!

Every weekend has been booked with activities! It is fun to be able to get out and do things. The first weekend of June we went to my mom's and got to spend time with my mom and my sister's family. It was Onamia Days weekend so on Sunday the kids got to go to the carnival and see a parade. We also ate at a pancake breakfast and saw some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins so that was fun.

The weekend after that we got to see Michelle and the girls as they came down so Brad and Michelle could spend time with their mom. We also went for an overnight camping trip to Jordan, MN with the Hagers. That was a lot of fun! Sydney spent an extra night with them on Sunday and had her first official sleepover!

Two weekends ago Brad and I got the opportunity to go away together. Originally we had wanted to try and fly somewhere, but then we decided to go close by and so we swapped houses with my mom, who agreed to watch the kids. We left Thursday night when Brad got done with work. Friday we took the boat out on Mille Lacs, we didn't catch anything, but the boat ran so that was excitement enough!. That afternoon we headed up to Duluth because we wanted to watch Michelle complete the Grandma's Half-Marathon. We spent the night with Michelle, Matt, and the girls. Saturday was an early morning. Brad and I left their house before 6 am to get to the finish line to find a spot. It was an exciting atmosphere and we were so happy to be there to support Michelle and root her on! Saturday night we returned to Onamia and went to the casino for a little while. We ate dinner there and Brad played a little blackjack. Sunday we went out fishing again and then returned home.

Last weekend we went out fishing on Prior lake on Saturday. I caught two fish, no one else caught any, but we had lots of bites. It was the first fishing trip of the year for the entire family. We were going to go again on Sunday, but Sydney was a little under the weather.

On an exciting note, Christopher is finally going potty! He hasn't had more than two accidents since Saturday! Skittles are working wonders!! Yay!



We hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July Holiday!

Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah

Happy Memorial Day...etc.

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to the following:

May Birthdays

11: Phillip Truax
13: Trisha Backlund
17: Stacey Maller
25: Michelle Emme
26: Noah Maller
28: Joey Hager

June Birthdays:

2: Brad Maller
3: Sonja King
13: Tracie Gave
27: Dennis Hopkins

Happy Anniversary to:

May 20: Jeff and Jeanne Hager
May 22: Brad and Stacey Maller
June 12: Steve and Jenny Truax
June 14: Steph and Ed Gulland


Noah had a very wonderful 2nd birthday. We had two small celebrations. One was just our family at home on his actual birthday. The second was this past Saturday. My mom, The Hagers, and the Emme's came and celebrated with us. We had a homemade banana cake that looked like the head of a monkey. He enjoyed all of his presents and is looking forward to going to the store with the gift cards that he received!

We visited Christopher's preschool for next year. He really seemed to like it and the teacher was very nice. It was a pretty easy decision to make. He has his well check up tomorrow so it will be fun to find out what he weighs, etc!

Sydney is very excited to have 4 loose teeth. One should be falling out any day now! She is also busy gearing up for the end of the year at school. I know that she will be really sad when it is time to be done. She has a big field trip on Friday to Como Zoo which daddy will be attending and bringing the boys with as well. I will be at work! Graduation is on June 9!
Until next time...

Stacey, Brad, Sydney, Christopher, and Noah