Adventures

     Let's be honest, I have this obsession with making sure that the kids are involved in something.  It started out with Mikayla in swimming,gymnastics and dance.  But now that she is a bit older we are trying out a few different things.  She will continue in gymnastics, for now.  I want her and Noah to find something that they have a passion for {even though I sometimes secretly live vicariously through them}.  This spring we tried out soccer.  She had done a mini-camp in preschool, but this was with a team and games.  In the beginning it was apparent that she was the newbie on the team, but as the season progressed it was less noticeable.  No goals scored this season, but she did play goalie where she stopped a number of goals.  In the fall we plan on signing both Mikayla and Noah up for soccer. 
     But for the summer we are trying out something a little different.  The kids are signed up for karate.  Mikayla has wanted to try it and since it is a ten week session I thought would be a nice trial period to see if it is something either of them really like.  They had their first class on Monday and Mikayla did great.  Noah just kept wondering when they were going to do the karate chops {he was a little bored with all the stretching}. We will try again next week and see how things go.

Floor routine during her spring show.

Balance beam.

Trophy at the end.

First soccer game.  {this is her go to pose for a picture}

Mike thought it would be fun to get a photo of me warming the girls up.

End of First Grade

     Mikayla finished up her first grade year.  She now has a much greater understanding of reading and more math and science knowledge.  I love it when she comes home and tells all about the things that she has learned.  It is not me asking what she did that day, no that response is, "I don't know."  It is all on her own time.  She constantly amazes me with what she knows.  Over the summer we are looking forward to spending time fine tuning her first grade skills and priming her for second grade.  Right now she has a great thirst for knowledge and I want to take full advantage of it.

Beginning of First Grade
Height: 45"

Weight: not sure {scale still broken}

Hair Color: dark blond/light brown

Favorite Color: pink

Favorite Book: Fancy Nancy

Favorite Activity: Pretending

Favorite Food: Pizza

Best Friend: Flora

Looking forward to most in First Grade: Junie B. Jones books


End of First Grade

Height: 45.75"

Weight: not sure {scale still broken}

Hair Color: dark blond/light brown

Favorite Color: pink, purple, blue

Favorite Book: The Donut Man

Favorite Activity: Pretending

Favorite Food: Pizza, hot dogs

Best Friend: Maddelyn

Looking forward to most this summer: playing

4.

     My little guy turned four.  Four???  Really???  Time really is flying by.  It seems like it was not that long ago that I was holding him in the hospital bed. But alas, he is four and I am enjoying watching him grow and seeing how his personality shines. He loves to cuddle, giggle, and expand his ever growing imagination {and vocabulary}. On his birthday we treated him to a morning at Legoland followed by an afternoon out in the country.  His birthday ended up being the best day for the memorial service for my cousin (which was complete with a military salute and fly over {Amazing!!!}).  The funeral was followed up by a get together out at my aunt's.
     I recently saw this idea for 20 questions {from pinterest} that you ask your child each year on their birthday.  I do something similar for Mikayla for the beginning and end of school year (post on that coming soon...), but I thought it might be fun to start one for Noah to see how he changes.

1. What is your favorite color? green
2. What is your favorite toy? Woody Doll

3. What is your favorite fruit? blueberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Batman
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut Butter & Jelly
6. What is your favorite outfit? Turtle outfit
7. What is your favorite game? Cars 2 Memory
8. What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? turtle
10. What is your favorite song? Humpty Dumpty

11. What is your favorite book? Veggie Tales
12. Who is your best friend? Eli
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play
15. What is your favorite drink? Capri Sun Water
16. What is your favorite holiday? Mother’s Day
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Any stuffed animal
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A day

     For his party he was able to choose the theme.  It was between Cars 2 and Superheroes.  He went with the latter.   We wanted to keep it low key, especially since we knew we would have little time.  When asked where he wanted to have his party, he instantly said home.  With not much space to entertain inside, we were looking for ideas for an outdoor party.  Temps hit the 90s in April which had me thinking that water definitely needed to be involved.  So we had a superhero water party. The kids had a blast, even though with our water pressure cuff we were having a hard time getting enough water for the slip-n-slide. 

Noah and Mikayla at Legoland.  {he was not in the picture mood that day}

In front of the Emerald City model.

Wizard of Oz.

The Plaza model.

More of the Plaza.

Ready to build.

Noah with a wizard.



The invite.  {I was really happy with the way these turned out.}

The inside.

Superhero cupcakes.  {I made the cupcake toppers, but the cupcakes were made by Sweet Perfections}

Comic Strip banner {idea from:  One Charming Party}

And The World Shows It's True Colors Again

     I am in this state where I feel like I have a lot to say, but words do not do it justice.  These past few weeks have felt like one huge dream {more like a nightmare}, and I am just waiting for that moment for someone to wake me up?  Time is passing, and everything just seems surreal.  About three weeks ago my cousin went missing in Alaska.  As an Airman in the Air Force, they declared him AWOL after missing just one day of work.  When I first learned about him missing I was thinking it was some kind of misunderstanding and that he would show up {I mean, afterall, people only disappear without a trace on TV, right???}.  After about a week of no contact with anybody, I began to think there was something really wrong.  In an effort to aid in the search my aunt and uncle headed up to Alaska.  There was a great presence of volunteers searching for him, both military and townspeople.  But all I could do was pray, wait by the phone, or check Facebook for any and all updates.  My heart was aching for my aunt and uncle as I knew that with each passing day that the prospects of a good outcome diminished.    Last Tuesday we received news that a body had been found, but it was not until Wednesday that it was identified as being that of my cousin.  I am amazed at the outpour of support, especially by those who didn't even know him or our family.  My heart really aches to know that the world lost a person with such heart and such vibrance for life.  My cousin was always there and ready to put a smile on your face.  And at a time when he was just finding his niche and his passion it was all taken away.  Right now I am trying to understand, knowing I probably never will.  Praying for the day that I can forgive the person(s) that did this.  It leaves me in a saddened state, once again seeing the ugliness of this world.  But now I know to hold my kids even closer.  To never forget to say I Love You!  To let them know that there are dangers in the world, but there will always be a safe place at home.

Because God Made Him Like That

     Oh the conversations we have been having at home recently.  Mikayla has definitely been more inquisitive and more aware.  Growing up I never really had "the talk" with mom, but I have always planned to have it with Mikayla.  Originally I was going to talk to her about it when she turned seven.  But when that time came around I felt she was still too young and that I would wait until the summer {more likely it is that I am not ready for her to grow up}.  But here lately she has been asking questions, so I have gingerly introduced some of the facts about growing up and the differences between boys and girls {think above the belt}.  It is more than just growing up that she is more aware of now, it is the color of people's skin, disabilities, and their accents. We have talked a lot about the possibility of having another baby.  And in these discussions I remind them that it is God who decides if and when we will have a baby.  I also like to emphasize that even though they may have their preference to whether they get a baby brother or sister, that too is up to God.  So recently when we were watching a t.v. show and Noah asked why the guy on the show talked like that{with an accent}, Mikayla was quick to offer up, "Because God made him like that."  And so that is how we begin to explain her other curiosities.  We simply explain that God makes each one of us different, and our differences are what make us special.

Deja Vu

     I wasn't sure I wanted to share this.  But knowing that one of these days I will turn the blog into photobooks has made me want to include this since it is part of our story.  At the end of January I found out that we were expecting, again.  The whole situation was surreal in how I found out to how things eventually unfolded.  It first started when I thought I had started my cycle super early, so I put in a call to the doctor's office.  They said that they can be irregular after a miscarriage {which I knew}, and to give it a few months.  It was an unusual cycle, but I didn't really think much more about it until it seemed to have stopped and started again.  I have no idea why, but I frantically took a pregnancy test.  I thought I had botched it, so I left the bathroom and came downstairs for a little while.  When I went back upstairs it was positive.  Shock and disbelief immediately set in.  To confirm the results I took another one that immediately turned positive.  Right away I was on the phone with the doctor's office.  This time they got back to me and sent me for a lab work up to check on my hcg and progesterone levels.  Both were lower than what they should have been.  I was told to repeat the test in a few days to see if the numbers were going up or down.  I completely expected them to have gone down, but instead my hcg doubled like it should have but my progesterone was still low.  A little ray of hope.  At this time I was also prescribed a nightly dose of progesterone.  The next blood test was a week later.  They were hoping the numbers would be high enough to do an ultrasound.  They were {more hope} and I was scheduled for an ultrasound.  I was a little afraid to go by myself and since Mike is my coverage for the daycare, my sister went with me.  We were able to see a heartbeat.  But I only measured six weeks when I should have been seven and the heartbeat was lower than in a healthy baby.  I was told to come for another ultrasound a week later.  It only took that night for me to know that I had already lost the baby.  For some reason I went to bed feeling pregnant, but woke up feeling completely unpregnant {probably not a word, but it is how I felt}.  I tried explaining it to Mike, but I don't think he quite got it.  The whole next week seemed to take forever.  Part of me was hoping that I was just being paranoid and that I would go in for the ultrasound and there would be a healthy heartbeat.  Reality was that there was no heartbeat.  I'm sure that I was expected to cry more than I did, but I don't think that what people realized was that I started mourning for this baby before even finding out I was pregnant {sounds strange, I know, but my first thought with the early cycle was that it was another miscarriage}.  So really I had been mourning for weeks.  It still breaks my heart.  I can't help but think that if I would have taken a pregnancy when I thought I had gotten my cycle that maybe this one could have had a fighting chance.  But what is in the past is in the past and I can't change that, I can only cling to hope for the future.  With this miscarriag, it did not progress on its own.  In order to move beyond the loss, I scheduled a D&C.  I was hoping the recovery would be quicker than the last, but no such luck.  At the D&C follow-up appointment I was referred for some bloodwork to check thyroid function and blood clotting issues.  When the results came back I was told I have a mild form of a blood clotting disorder called heterozygous MTHFR.  Basically it is a blood clotting disorder that may or may not have anything to do with the miscarriages.  It may cause tiny clots to form that may inhibit nutrient rich bloodflow to the baby.  There is a relationship between homocysteine and folic acid that I do not fully understand except that my body may not be able to fully absorb folic acid.  I was put on a baby aspirin daily to help reduce the risk of a clot. 
     I am not sure why, but I was more private with this miscarriage.  I think part of it has to do with the fact that I don't want people to feel sorry for me.  Yes, it is a difficult and heartbreaking set of events, but I still cling to the idea that everything happens for a reason.  And if we are meant to have another baby, it will happen.  As with the last miscarriage, we decided to name the baby.  The name we decided on was Logan Taylor.  I am thinking about getting a ring to memorialize the baby and possibly two angel garden stones.

And in the Quiet

     I had the house to myself {and my dog} for THREE WHOLE DAYS!  Okay, so reality is that I still had to work on Friday, but other than that it was just me and the quietness of the house.  Kinda strange.  At first I thought I might be bored, but that was soon overcome with a flood of ideas of what I could do.  Truth is, I am not sure I have ever had a house to myself.  I went from living with my parents to living with Mike.  So this is definitely a change of pace.  Perhaps I should back up just a bit and explain how I came about this peacefulness.  With Mikayla out of school on Friday and no soccer game this weekend I thought it would be an ideal time for Mike to visit his family.  The kids were definitely sold on the idea.  Fridays are my busiest day with the daycare, so I opted not to take the day off.  In addition I signed up for a class on Saturday, so even if I could have closed I still had the class to deal with.  I would love to say that I truly indulged myself this weekend, but I did not.  Most of the weekend was spent doing normal household things.  I did go to a movie {by myself} on Saturday.  But overall, it was just nice to have a weekend to myself.  Some time to do things according to my needs and my schedule.  But now we are back to reality, and I am okay with that.  After all I did miss all of Noah's cuddles and giggles, and Mikayla's "like me" helpfulness.