Update

I promised to post an update so here I go...

April:  I am still searching for a job.  I have sent out several applications and resumes to various places.  I have applied for a few jobs through the county school system which would be ideal to have summers off, but still haven't heard back from two of them (one already got filled).  I have also been looking into daycare options for Tyler as well as before & after care for the older two.  There are some options out there, but everything is so expensive.  Once I do get a job I am going to apply for daycare assistance through the county which will help partially pay for daycare.

Ben:  Ben has been coming over to see the boys most Thursdays and then on many weekends.  We are still working out scheduling for the weekends since we only have the 1 car.  We are working towards an every other weekend schedule, but as things come up (such as the boys' first basketball game) we have been pretty random with the schedule for now.  Ben & I are still on good enough terms to really be able to talk, work things out regarding finances & the boys, and have some family time for the boys to enjoy.

Zak:  Zak seems to be the only one who understands what is going on with Ben & I.  Not that he knows all of the details, but he seems to really understand that daddy doesn't live here anymore even though he gets to see him still.  He is doing very good in school which is great.  As always, Zak loves his baby brother and is constantly playing with him.  Unfortunately, his newest obsession is video games.  He asks to play games on the Wii every second that he is awake and not at school.  We are having to put limits on the gaming time as well as turning it off if he gets overly competitive about it.  As an alternate sometimes he is allowed to play educational games on the Leap Pad or good old board games.

Ryder:  Ryder has been extremely emotional recently (started before Ben moved out).  He is doing OK in school, but struggles with homework sometimes.  On Monday I took him to Kennedy Krieger for a full day of testing to see if we could determine and issues he might be having that we could help with.  I will get the full written report in the next 4 weeks or so.  They did briefly go over a few things that they found though.  His overall IQ is just below the average range so they said it wasn't anything concerning.  They discovered numbers seem to be a strength for him, but memory and early literacy are his big weaknesses academically.  They feel he is having lots of new skills thrown at him and he is only picking up bits & pieces, but not mastering anything which can become an issue as things get harder and build on the basics.  I am hoping when I give the report to the school they will agree to offer more services to help him in those areas.  I am also looking into social skills groups for Ryder to help with those skills.  After lots of talking with the psychologists who did the testing I realized Ryder thrives and craves 1-on-1 time so I need to figure out a way to provide more of that for him (and Zak).  Ryder feels inferior in many situations within his daily life (school, sports, comparing to Zak, etc) and he doesn't feel that way during 1-on-1 time with me or when playing with younger children.

Tyler:  He is such a big boy.  He is almost 8.5 months old and weighs around 21 pounds.  He is wearing 18 and 24 month clothing already!  He is crawling, pulling up to stand, and cruising around while holding onto furniture.  I have started to use gates to block him from the steps and kitchen to keep him out of trouble.  He loves to play with his brothers and enjoys to cuddle.  He is becoming very talkative now and has the best laugh ever!  He has his 9 month check-up on January 30 so I will update with his new stats after that.

And now for the pictures...