I just finished kindergarten with Ladan today! He took his last math test this afternoon. He finished his kindergarten phonics/reading/handwriting/art/art history curriculum much earlier in the year and has just a bit of the 1st grade curriculum left to complete, but we're taking a break from that at least until July so we can enjoy the weather and his 6th birthday (June 15). Not bad for a pretty young kindergartener, I guess! And given that we've had quite a few things that have thrown us off course this year so that we squeezed our 176-day school year into 133, I'd say it's even better!
While Ladan celebrated by running through the sprinkler with his neighborhood friends, I was online purchasing next year's curriculum! I can't wait for it all to get here! :) Next year we add grammar, geography, literature, science, and lots more history to the mix. I feel like I'm going to need a month just to get myself organized! It is so much work, but it is SO WORTH IT!!!! I love it! I never thought I'd say that about homeschooling. I never even thought I'd homeschool my kids.
Claire is starting to roll all over the place. She is seriously the sweetest baby I have ever met, and I don't just say things like that about my own kids without warrant. I started to question whether or not I was just oblivious, but it's confirmed by almost everyone who meets her... everyone except the strange still model in Neiman Marcus we encountered a few weeks back when Claire was screaming her face off as we trudged through the store just to get somewhere else. For the most part, she shocks people with her good nature. The first few months with her were VERY hard when she was puking on everything in sight... but she's past that now, and it's just a memory... though sometimes I feel like I'm still recovering!
And Gabe... well, he's just a ball of life. The other night he just wanted to go for a ride in "the white car". He kept saying, "Come on, Mom. Let's go!" I had no idea where he wanted to go, and he didn't either. He just wanted to get out and see something. So I cleaned up the dishes, got Chet settled with Ladan and Claire, and I went for a drive with him. We rolled the windows down and drove into the sunset. No music. Just talking about what we saw and enjoying the night. It was refreshing and amazing! That's what I love about that kid! He knows what he wants, and he goes for it! He's got fire in him! It doesn't always turn out to be very convenient when I want him to do something that gets in the way of his personal plans, but we're getting things figured out slowly but surely.
I made cookies tonight while Chet gave the kids baths. When they were all clean, the boys came running down to me and were so excited about their cleanliness! They just had to show me how nice they looked! Funny! I got them each a cookie, and I probably heard four or five times from each of them how yummy their cookies were. I wish I could describe the look of sheer satisfaction on Gabe's face when I walked toward him with his second cookie. He closed his eyes, smiled as big as he could, drew his hands into his chest, and held his breath until his cookie landed on his plate. Priceless! Neither of the boys really knows how to fake enjoyment, so when they are extra thankful and excited about something I've done, I know it's coming straight from their hearts. Encouragement to a weary mom is what that is!
There is so much work that goes into being a mom, and there are so many things that I would absolutely love to be doing and learning that might seem more fulfilling at certain points. But I'd say that I'm learning all kinds of things right where I am, and I'm fairly certain that there is nothing else I could learn or do that is more fulfilling or rewarding in reality. Not every day feels like a reward. MANY days feel like I'm being hit by a truck and I'm crumbling. But these days. Well, they make all those other days worth it.
Showing posts with label Claire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Claire. Show all posts
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
One Fine Day
Today was the first warm day this year, and it was fantastic! It rained early in the day, but the clouds parted, and the sun came out! Ladan said, "It's sunny! God thought it would make us happy if He made it sunny outside! He had that idea!" You can tell we haven't seen the sun in a while!
We worked on math early, and the boys were outside enjoying the nice weather by 10am. They played while Claire took her morning nap and I cleaned. When Claire woke up, we went for a walk through the golf course across the street from our neighborhood.
The golf course... and a poop sighting:
After we got home, we ate lunch and all three kids were tired. Gabe and Claire went down for naps. Ladan did some of his reading, but he was out of it, so we saved the rest for later in the interest of a nap for him too! For about 45 minutes, all three kids were laying down quietly AT THE SAME TIME! I cleaned the kitchen in peace. Nice!
Claire is now 7 months old, and to date, she has only eaten solids a couple times with VERY LITTLE success. She also refuses to take a bottle, but that's another story for another post. Two nights ago I tried giving her solids, and she was literally sobbing with huge crocodile tears streaming down her face acting like I was ripping her arm off her side or something. Last night Chet tried, and she didn't scream at him. Instead, she just stared him down with her cute little face and held her mouth shut.
If you know me, you know that when a challenge presents itself, I do not give up easily... and may try even harder. Well, I tried again tonight, and I finally got her to eat about 3 whole tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with pears! I was pumped!
It was one fine day! Thank you, Lord!
We worked on math early, and the boys were outside enjoying the nice weather by 10am. They played while Claire took her morning nap and I cleaned. When Claire woke up, we went for a walk through the golf course across the street from our neighborhood.
The golf course... and a poop sighting:
After we got home, we ate lunch and all three kids were tired. Gabe and Claire went down for naps. Ladan did some of his reading, but he was out of it, so we saved the rest for later in the interest of a nap for him too! For about 45 minutes, all three kids were laying down quietly AT THE SAME TIME! I cleaned the kitchen in peace. Nice!
Claire is now 7 months old, and to date, she has only eaten solids a couple times with VERY LITTLE success. She also refuses to take a bottle, but that's another story for another post. Two nights ago I tried giving her solids, and she was literally sobbing with huge crocodile tears streaming down her face acting like I was ripping her arm off her side or something. Last night Chet tried, and she didn't scream at him. Instead, she just stared him down with her cute little face and held her mouth shut.
If you know me, you know that when a challenge presents itself, I do not give up easily... and may try even harder. Well, I tried again tonight, and I finally got her to eat about 3 whole tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with pears! I was pumped!
It was one fine day! Thank you, Lord!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A Noteworthy Week
Monday I took Claire to the doctor. She was 6 months, 9 days old. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 10 oz. She's still a little one!
Monday evening we were able to have Holly over for dinner. Holly is a U of I student who is relatively new to Redeemer, and it was so much fun getting to hang out with her more!
Tuesday Claire got her first tooth. Later that evening she ate her first solid food. She made some of the cutest expressions while she was eating!
Wednesday was a "normal" day, which is noteworthy in itself! The funniest part of the day occurred several moments after my head hit the pillow. I was in that state of semi-consciousness halfway asleep... when suddenly I heard in my head the sound of Claire spitting up! What!?! I started laughing and then hoped I wouldn't wake Chet up. It was pretty hilarious, actually. I couldn't tell if it was funnier that I heard the sound in my head or that I actually recognized what the sound was immediately!
Thursday, we started the day at the Family Center (the homeschool co-op that we joined in the fall). Everyone had a great morning! Ladan's really fun morning quickly turned to "THE WORST DAY EVER" when he found out that his friend, Meghan, wasn't going to be able to come over that night. She had something come up, and it just wasn't going to work out. He was SO DISAPPOINTED. He cried. Several times. And repeated several times that it had become THE WORST DAY EVER.
Quick! Good response needed from his mom! I agreed with him that it was definitely disappointing that Meghan wasn't going to be able to come over and assured him that we would reschedule. He was still pretty upset. Here's how it went:
Me: "Ladan, who created everything?"
Ladan (whispering): "God."
Me: "So who is in charge of everything?"
L: "God."
L: "God."
Me: "WHY did God create everything, and why does He decide to do things?"
L: "For His own glory."
Me: "So why do you imagine that Meghan can't come over today?"
L: "Because it will glorify God."
Me: "That seems strange, doesn't it? That something so disappointing can be glorifying to God. And yet we know that it's true, because He says it is. Let's watch to see if we can see ways that God is glorified because He is working things out this way."
Fast forward a few hours. We had finished the school stuff we needed to do from home. Gabe was napping. Claire had been fed. I needed to run some errands, so I decided to take Ladan out for a night with Mommy. He was able to decide what he wanted to eat. Shockingly, he chose pizza.
We went to Monical's. On the way in, Ladan held the door for an elderly lady, and then she held the other door for us. It was very sweet! We enjoyed our pizza, and then we ran errands. Our final stop was Target where our goal was to find a new backpack for Ladan. I so wish I had taken an mp3 recorder to catch everything that he said throughout the night. It was one of my best nights as his mom, I'm sure. He's getting so big and is so much fun to hang out with. These are some of the things I heard from him in no particular order:
"Mom, do you know who I love? YOU!"
"Mom, when I get to be 19, I'm going to be an adult. And I'm going to be able to drive when I'm 19. [Me: You'll probably be able to drive when you're 16 if the law doesn't change.] Yep, but I'll still be able to drive when I'm 19. And then I'll get married when I'm 21. And I'll have to take care of my wife and kids. I'm working hard at school so I can provide for my wife and kids."
"Mom, what if two of my kids are fighting over... our DOG? I guess I'll have to discipline two of my kids. But I won't want to. But God says I have to, so I guess I'll have to do what he says because I love my kids."
"When I grow up and have a wife and kids, I'm going to have to protect them, Mom. What if there's a coyote coming after my wife with its chompers? I'll have to send my dog out to scare away the coyote. My dog will have to be big enough to scare away the coyote, but it can't be as big as Clifford, because then my family won't be able to fit inside our house with our dog. And if our dog doesn't scare away the coyote, then I'm going to have to FIRE him! That means that I'm going to have to shoot him DEAD! I canNOT let him get to my family and hurt them with his chompers!"
Walking through Michael's, Ladan noticed that there were some baskets that were out of place. He found where they went, and I praised him for helping the employees out by putting the baskets away. He exclaimed, "It wasn't hard to put them away! I did the right thing, Mom! It's FUN to do the right thing!"
Here are several things he said as we walked through Target:
"Mom, LOOK at all these cute dresses for Claire! She would look so CUTE in THAT ONE, Mom!" [We didn't buy any, but it was an act of sheer willpower.]
We looked at a little felt headband that had felt flower petals sticking off of it, and we determined that it would be a fun photo prop for Claire. He said, "We should get it, Mom! But you know what Dad will say. He'll say, 'You guys are CRAZY!'"
"I just really like this place. They have comfy chairs to sit in. They have food. They have clothes. They have fun things to look at. I hope we can come here again."
On the way out of the store, the electronic sensor on his new backpack caused the alarm to go off while he was wearing the backpack. He stopped dead in his tracks and wondered what in the world all that noise was about. I'm glad he didn't freak out. On the way home, I explained to him that the sensor is there because some people steal things, and the sensor allows the store employees to check to be sure that people really bought the backpacks that they're walking out with. I explained, "There are people who take things without paying for them, and the store loses money that way."
His reply: "Oh, Mom. Those people are NOT loving God then. When they take something like that, they are thinking only of themselves. That is NOT good."
"Mom, I'm still a little bit sad that Meghan didn't get to come over, but this was a really great day!"
Agreed. It WAS a great day! And it wasn't over. When we got home, Quinn (another college student that has joined Redeemer recently) was over hanging out with Chet, so we were able to join in the fun as well. We always have fantastic conversation with Quinn and are so excited to see how the Lord is using him to build the kingdom.
The grandmother of one of our friends died earlier in the week, so we made the quick drive up to Chicago on Friday evening for the visitation. The kids did so well! This was their second visitation this month. We have had some fantastic opportunities to talk about what happens when someone dies and to talk to our kids about God's judgment, salvation, the gospel, etc.
Yesterday, Chet had to work at the Y, and Ladan and I had to catch up on a little bit of school that we didn't get done during the week. I got a lot done around the house, and he did a great job with school.
Throughout the week, Gabe and Ladan have been playing so well together! They have these crazy imaginations and just have a blast! It's so much fun to hear them playing together and to hear them figure out how to work together.
Talk about a full week! It was full of blessings, leaving me overwhelmed by the very specific ways that the Lord is caring for all of us!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Starting School
Well, we started school again on Thursday. Ladan is now working on his 1st grade phonics/reading/handwriting/art program; Saxon 1 Math; his catechism and scripture memory program; and some fun and random science stuff. He's so fast at learning new phonics rules and figuring out new words! He's also great at addition and subtraction and is beginning to learn how to tell time on a "real" clock along with some very basic fractions. I was pretty surprised at how quickly he dove back in after two weeks off. Well, at least with regard to his understanding. He's still a bit distracted by his desire to play, which hopefully he's figuring out ends up stealing his time to actually play with the things he's pining after. Isn't that so true of many adults though? We sit and stare at what we want to be doing, and rather than just getting the mundane stuff over with so we can move on, we sit motionless chewing our fingernails and staring out the window. Well, I don't chew my fingernails, because I think that's gross, but you get the picture. The point is that he's doing great for the most part and just has to get back into structure mode.
One thing that's been really fun is that Ladan has been running up to me giving me totally random HUGE hugs much more often than normal for about a week now. I don't know what it's all about, but I'll take it!
He's learning to make sense out of so many things in the world, and his conclusions are often very observant and entertaining. For example, today he was eating an apple for his snack. He was just walking around the kitchen while I was doing dishes, and he said, "Mom, I really like apples because they're crunchy and sweet. And they have vitamins that are good for my body. But the seeds are NOT the vitamins. They're the part in the middle that we eat around and then throw away so we don't choke!" And a couple weeks ago I told him I needed to dust the television, and he said, "Don't you mean 'undust', Mom?" Well, yes, I guess that does make more sense, doesn't it?
For Christmas, Gabe received a copy of My Giant Sticker Activity Book. I went through this book with Ladan when he was three, and it really got him moving in the direction of paying attention to instructions and learning quite a few basics about spelling, numbers, vocabulary, fine motor skill development, etc. Well, when I started school with Ladan last Thursday, Gabe ran to find his new sticker book because he wanted to "start school" too! And boy, was he serious! He went from A through N in the alphabet section of the book, breaking only to run up and show Chet his "work" every couple pages. I finally had to stop him and tell him we'd do more the next day. He was so excited about it. My favorite part was when he got to the letter M. He said, "That's a letter M! It says 'Mmmmmm'. Marvewous!" I love that my three-year-old boy exclaimed "Marvelous!" all on his own. His great-grandma would be proud. It's one of her favorite words.
Sure enough, on Friday, Gabe went running for his sticker book to start school again. He finished the alphabet and was ready for more when I had to stop him again. Today he did the same thing. I was so disappointed that I couldn't help him with it today because so many things were going on, but I'm going to make it a point to work with him at least 3 times a week. It seems like he may be ready to start Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons this summer. For sure he'll be ready by the fall. I'm so excited that he's so excited! The only two things that can hold his focused attention for longer than 10 minutes are "doing school" and playing in a sink full of water (that still wins by a long shot seeing as how he literally will play in the sink with three toys for 2 hours or more at a time).
Gabe is a drama star! His favorite thing to do when he has the attention of a crowd is to recite the lines from Bambi when Thumper says, "Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. I made that last part up myself." He says all of this with the appropriate motions and then dives into a recitation of a monologue given by a caterpillar in the Veggie Tales move, Jonah. It's something about how Jonah is going to chase off a band of camel thieves, and in the process, he's going to break the heart of the woman he loves! [Huge gasp!] He has all of the appropriate motions with this as well. It's my goal to get this on video this week before he changes the way he does it. He's such a fun kid!
Claire is still a remarkably happy baby. She still throws up often enough, but it's SO MUCH BETTER than it was! She's very easy-going, which is a lifesaver for all of us. Just tonight, I found Gabe happily slapping her in the face with her new Sophie Giraffe, and she was just sitting there like nothing was going on at all. Thank goodness Sophie is made of very soft and pliable natural rubber, so she wasn't getting pelted in the face with something harmful... but you'd think that she would have at least tipped me off that something was going on. I guess Gabe's cheerful smile was enough to calm any nerves that may have been frazzled by the onslaught. She's starting to laugh every once in a while, and it's so cute! I hope we can get it on video soon.
As far as her motor development goes, she's able to grab and hold onto quite a few things. She definitely knows when she wants something and will go for it. My favorite is when she sees me and reaches out to grab both sides of my face and pulls me toward her so she can give me a big sloppy kiss on the face! She absolutely cannot stand tummy time, and she's content to just lay still on her back for LONG periods of time playing with the same toy or just staring at something, so she's not in any hurry to roll over it doesn't seem. Unless some major shift happens, she's definitely not going to be crawling by six months. And to that I say, "Praise the Lord!" I'm not ready for her to be mobile yet, so I'm fine if she wants to take her sweet time like her oldest brother. Well, actually, a balance between her two brothers would be ideal, but I'll take what I get as long as she's okay. She's starting to get better at holding herself in an upright position in her exersaucer. I still have to pack a little blanket in around her so she doesn't tip over, but she's able to stay up for a minute or two before I have to support her.
I regularly find her laying on her back with her left leg stuck straight out at a 45 degree angle. Random and kind of funny. She loves it when we tickle her feet and will stick her feet out to us when she wants to play. Speaking of her feet, they are some of the cutest little baby feet I have ever seen! They're so dainty! Claire is dainty herself, I guess. I take her in another couple days for a shot visit and a height/weight check, so we'll see how big she is then.
That's a little peek into the recent educational/developmental milestones the kids are making. We are so blessed to have healthy children who are growing and learning new things all the time! I do not take that for granted and realize it could change at any moment. We thank God for every day we have with these little ones! They are amazing! They point us regularly to the grace, mercy, and glory of God. Who else could create such intricate and unique individuals?
One thing that's been really fun is that Ladan has been running up to me giving me totally random HUGE hugs much more often than normal for about a week now. I don't know what it's all about, but I'll take it!
He's learning to make sense out of so many things in the world, and his conclusions are often very observant and entertaining. For example, today he was eating an apple for his snack. He was just walking around the kitchen while I was doing dishes, and he said, "Mom, I really like apples because they're crunchy and sweet. And they have vitamins that are good for my body. But the seeds are NOT the vitamins. They're the part in the middle that we eat around and then throw away so we don't choke!" And a couple weeks ago I told him I needed to dust the television, and he said, "Don't you mean 'undust', Mom?" Well, yes, I guess that does make more sense, doesn't it?
For Christmas, Gabe received a copy of My Giant Sticker Activity Book. I went through this book with Ladan when he was three, and it really got him moving in the direction of paying attention to instructions and learning quite a few basics about spelling, numbers, vocabulary, fine motor skill development, etc. Well, when I started school with Ladan last Thursday, Gabe ran to find his new sticker book because he wanted to "start school" too! And boy, was he serious! He went from A through N in the alphabet section of the book, breaking only to run up and show Chet his "work" every couple pages. I finally had to stop him and tell him we'd do more the next day. He was so excited about it. My favorite part was when he got to the letter M. He said, "That's a letter M! It says 'Mmmmmm'. Marvewous!" I love that my three-year-old boy exclaimed "Marvelous!" all on his own. His great-grandma would be proud. It's one of her favorite words.
Sure enough, on Friday, Gabe went running for his sticker book to start school again. He finished the alphabet and was ready for more when I had to stop him again. Today he did the same thing. I was so disappointed that I couldn't help him with it today because so many things were going on, but I'm going to make it a point to work with him at least 3 times a week. It seems like he may be ready to start Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons this summer. For sure he'll be ready by the fall. I'm so excited that he's so excited! The only two things that can hold his focused attention for longer than 10 minutes are "doing school" and playing in a sink full of water (that still wins by a long shot seeing as how he literally will play in the sink with three toys for 2 hours or more at a time).
Gabe is a drama star! His favorite thing to do when he has the attention of a crowd is to recite the lines from Bambi when Thumper says, "Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. I made that last part up myself." He says all of this with the appropriate motions and then dives into a recitation of a monologue given by a caterpillar in the Veggie Tales move, Jonah. It's something about how Jonah is going to chase off a band of camel thieves, and in the process, he's going to break the heart of the woman he loves! [Huge gasp!] He has all of the appropriate motions with this as well. It's my goal to get this on video this week before he changes the way he does it. He's such a fun kid!
Claire is still a remarkably happy baby. She still throws up often enough, but it's SO MUCH BETTER than it was! She's very easy-going, which is a lifesaver for all of us. Just tonight, I found Gabe happily slapping her in the face with her new Sophie Giraffe, and she was just sitting there like nothing was going on at all. Thank goodness Sophie is made of very soft and pliable natural rubber, so she wasn't getting pelted in the face with something harmful... but you'd think that she would have at least tipped me off that something was going on. I guess Gabe's cheerful smile was enough to calm any nerves that may have been frazzled by the onslaught. She's starting to laugh every once in a while, and it's so cute! I hope we can get it on video soon.
As far as her motor development goes, she's able to grab and hold onto quite a few things. She definitely knows when she wants something and will go for it. My favorite is when she sees me and reaches out to grab both sides of my face and pulls me toward her so she can give me a big sloppy kiss on the face! She absolutely cannot stand tummy time, and she's content to just lay still on her back for LONG periods of time playing with the same toy or just staring at something, so she's not in any hurry to roll over it doesn't seem. Unless some major shift happens, she's definitely not going to be crawling by six months. And to that I say, "Praise the Lord!" I'm not ready for her to be mobile yet, so I'm fine if she wants to take her sweet time like her oldest brother. Well, actually, a balance between her two brothers would be ideal, but I'll take what I get as long as she's okay. She's starting to get better at holding herself in an upright position in her exersaucer. I still have to pack a little blanket in around her so she doesn't tip over, but she's able to stay up for a minute or two before I have to support her.
I regularly find her laying on her back with her left leg stuck straight out at a 45 degree angle. Random and kind of funny. She loves it when we tickle her feet and will stick her feet out to us when she wants to play. Speaking of her feet, they are some of the cutest little baby feet I have ever seen! They're so dainty! Claire is dainty herself, I guess. I take her in another couple days for a shot visit and a height/weight check, so we'll see how big she is then.
That's a little peek into the recent educational/developmental milestones the kids are making. We are so blessed to have healthy children who are growing and learning new things all the time! I do not take that for granted and realize it could change at any moment. We thank God for every day we have with these little ones! They are amazing! They point us regularly to the grace, mercy, and glory of God. Who else could create such intricate and unique individuals?
Sunday, December 20, 2009
2009--A Year in Review
What an eventful year for our family! We have seen the Lord work in our lives in more ways than we can count! There has been LOTS of change for each of us, and through it all, God has provided everything we needed... even if it hasn't always been exactly what we WANTED.
In March, we moved to Champaign-Urbana, IL to start Redeemer Church. For many reasons, one of our main concerns as we considered planting a church was having a team to labor alongside us. The Lord not only provided a team, but He gave us a FANTASTIC group of people with whom we could join efforts and just walk through life. We give thanks to God on a daily basis for these people!
We bought our first house in March. Because of the state of the economy, we were able to buy a home that is not only big enough for us, but it has allowed us to host quite a few guests. I had been wondering if we would ever use as many bath towels as we had accumulated... and the answer is that indeed, we would! How exciting to not only have more space but to be able to share it with others! As if that wasn't enough, we have amazing neighbors who have been such a blessing to us as we've gotten settled!
Our move from Louisville to Urbana has brought so many blessings, but it has also been challenging. One of the hardest days I had was the day that Ladan finally mustered up the courage to go introduce himself to some kids down the street, and they told him that they were having a private party and would have to play "later". He cried. A lot. He just wanted his friends from Louisville. Then I cried with him. It was so hard to watch him go through this! There are tons of kids in our neighborhood, but it seems that their schedules are so packed with school and extracurriculars that they are very rarely available to play. We prayed together and thanked God for being here with us. A few weeks later, it was the birthday of one of his super-great friends back in Louisville. So we opened his window, he stuck his head out, and he screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIEL!" at the top of his lungs... and then wondered how long it would be before Daniel could hear the message.
One thing that both our kids have learned through this transition is that your friends do not all have to be exactly like you. You can have friends who are your age, but you can also have dear friends who are VERY different in age, stage of life, gifting, financial status, etc. It didn't take long before the boys started cheering when they heard that our friends were coming over--our adult friends. And they called them their friends too. The Lord had provided friends for them, but only a few of them were their age. It definitely didn't look like what they had expected or originally hoped for, but they love these people more than they had expected or originally hoped for! They still talk regularly about their friends in Louisville, but it's with less heartache and more anticipation as they look forward to when they might get to see them again.
Later in the year we started homeschooling Ladan and joined a homeschool co-op in town. On Thursday mornings, they go for their kindergarten and toddler classes and get to hang out with lots of kids their own ages. This has also been a fantastic opportunity for me to meet some other women in town and seems to have been very helpful as we make connections with people and resources here. I have been very encouraged by the ladies I've met!
Chet graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in May with his Master of Divinity degree. What an accomplishment!!! Seminary was a learning experience for all of us, not just for Chet. We will be forever grateful to the Lord for the training, discipleship, and genuine care that we experienced during our time in Louisville at Southern and especially at Clifton Baptist Church!
When we left Louisville, Chet also got to QUIT WORKING AT UPS!!!!!!! Can you join me in saying WOOOOOHOOOO!?! He did take a part-time job at the YMCA here, and his hours cause him to miss a bit of sleep. However, he thoroughly enjoys the people he works with and all of the members who come in to exercise. He has the early-morning shift, so he has been able to enjoy seeing all the "regulars" of the older generations. They are really fun and give him plenty of opportunities to show off pictures of the kids!
August 6 was the day that hot pink stars went flashing all around us as Claire Ellise made her entry into the world! Oh my goodness! What a blessing this little girl has been to our family! There's something pretty amazing about seeing a daddy with his little girl. And there's something equally amazing about watching two little boys love on their baby sister! Ladan and Gabe to this day cannot walk past Claire without giving her at least one hug and kiss. They call her "sweetie", tell her she's cute, and run to her when she cries. They protect her. They thank God for her when they pray at night. They adore her... even when she throws up all over them. They LOVE her! And I love her! Did I mention that hot pink is pretty great?
Ladan turned 5 in June. He learned to read fairly well by then and has gotten better and better throughout the year. Last week he sounded out the words "Appomattox" and "Manassas" in his reader about the Civil War. What fun to see his face light up when he read them correctly! He's also becoming quite the mathematician. Homeschooling is a little bit chaotic somedays, but I'm so thankful that we made the decision to educate him this way this year. Not only is he learning all kinds of things, but Gabe is benefiting as well. Ladan is a servant at heart and is a life-saver to me! He's still a sports fanatic and dreams about the day when he can play football and baseball on real teams.
Gabe turned 3 in September. This kid has some spunk! He has been aptly described as "exuberant". To date, I don't think there's ever been a time when we've wondered how he has felt about something. He has been through his fair share of changes this year. In addition to everything mentioned above, Gabe moved to a big bed, learned to use the potty, moved into a room with Ladan, and gave up his place as the baby of the family. We're still working on getting him to give up the pacifier when he sleeps. One thing at a time. He's learned his letters and their sounds and is beginning to be able to determine what letter words begin with. He gets really excited about the small things and greets me every morning with the sweetest "Hi, Mom-mom!" you've ever heard. A couple weeks ago, he was playing on the floor with Claire sweetly saying, "Jesus loves Claire!" He is persistent in almost every way... when he's trying something new, when he wants something, and when he's disobeying. He'll probably grow up to be some sort of Washington lobbyist or something. That is, if we can break his persistence to disobey and help him maintain it in the other areas. May the Lord be merciful to help us!
Planting a church has definitely been an adventure for us! Throughout the 9 1/2 months we've been here, we have been challenged in ways that we never expected. Our marriage has been stretched. We have been stretched as parents. We have taken on roles we may never have otherwise chosen, and we're learning new things all the time.
Mostly, we have learned so many new applications of the Gospel that we can't possibly count them. We have been challenged to extend and receive grace more freely and more deeply. The fact that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross covers our many sins is more and more precious to us daily. It is our only purpose for being here, and it's our motivation to keep going. It has changed and continues to transform us, and our prayer is that the Lord will somehow use us to share the richness of His mercy and love with others... and that there will be many who BELIEVE!
As we reflect on this year, it is clear that we were not alone. Our heavenly Father was with us every step of the way providing everything we needed. Through growth, joy, excitement, trial, conflict, restoration, disappointment, accomplishment and transition, we have been SO BLESSED! The Lord is our strength and our song indeed!
In March, we moved to Champaign-Urbana, IL to start Redeemer Church. For many reasons, one of our main concerns as we considered planting a church was having a team to labor alongside us. The Lord not only provided a team, but He gave us a FANTASTIC group of people with whom we could join efforts and just walk through life. We give thanks to God on a daily basis for these people!
We bought our first house in March. Because of the state of the economy, we were able to buy a home that is not only big enough for us, but it has allowed us to host quite a few guests. I had been wondering if we would ever use as many bath towels as we had accumulated... and the answer is that indeed, we would! How exciting to not only have more space but to be able to share it with others! As if that wasn't enough, we have amazing neighbors who have been such a blessing to us as we've gotten settled!
Our move from Louisville to Urbana has brought so many blessings, but it has also been challenging. One of the hardest days I had was the day that Ladan finally mustered up the courage to go introduce himself to some kids down the street, and they told him that they were having a private party and would have to play "later". He cried. A lot. He just wanted his friends from Louisville. Then I cried with him. It was so hard to watch him go through this! There are tons of kids in our neighborhood, but it seems that their schedules are so packed with school and extracurriculars that they are very rarely available to play. We prayed together and thanked God for being here with us. A few weeks later, it was the birthday of one of his super-great friends back in Louisville. So we opened his window, he stuck his head out, and he screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIEL!" at the top of his lungs... and then wondered how long it would be before Daniel could hear the message.
One thing that both our kids have learned through this transition is that your friends do not all have to be exactly like you. You can have friends who are your age, but you can also have dear friends who are VERY different in age, stage of life, gifting, financial status, etc. It didn't take long before the boys started cheering when they heard that our friends were coming over--our adult friends. And they called them their friends too. The Lord had provided friends for them, but only a few of them were their age. It definitely didn't look like what they had expected or originally hoped for, but they love these people more than they had expected or originally hoped for! They still talk regularly about their friends in Louisville, but it's with less heartache and more anticipation as they look forward to when they might get to see them again.
Later in the year we started homeschooling Ladan and joined a homeschool co-op in town. On Thursday mornings, they go for their kindergarten and toddler classes and get to hang out with lots of kids their own ages. This has also been a fantastic opportunity for me to meet some other women in town and seems to have been very helpful as we make connections with people and resources here. I have been very encouraged by the ladies I've met!
Chet graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in May with his Master of Divinity degree. What an accomplishment!!! Seminary was a learning experience for all of us, not just for Chet. We will be forever grateful to the Lord for the training, discipleship, and genuine care that we experienced during our time in Louisville at Southern and especially at Clifton Baptist Church!
When we left Louisville, Chet also got to QUIT WORKING AT UPS!!!!!!! Can you join me in saying WOOOOOHOOOO!?! He did take a part-time job at the YMCA here, and his hours cause him to miss a bit of sleep. However, he thoroughly enjoys the people he works with and all of the members who come in to exercise. He has the early-morning shift, so he has been able to enjoy seeing all the "regulars" of the older generations. They are really fun and give him plenty of opportunities to show off pictures of the kids!
August 6 was the day that hot pink stars went flashing all around us as Claire Ellise made her entry into the world! Oh my goodness! What a blessing this little girl has been to our family! There's something pretty amazing about seeing a daddy with his little girl. And there's something equally amazing about watching two little boys love on their baby sister! Ladan and Gabe to this day cannot walk past Claire without giving her at least one hug and kiss. They call her "sweetie", tell her she's cute, and run to her when she cries. They protect her. They thank God for her when they pray at night. They adore her... even when she throws up all over them. They LOVE her! And I love her! Did I mention that hot pink is pretty great?
Ladan turned 5 in June. He learned to read fairly well by then and has gotten better and better throughout the year. Last week he sounded out the words "Appomattox" and "Manassas" in his reader about the Civil War. What fun to see his face light up when he read them correctly! He's also becoming quite the mathematician. Homeschooling is a little bit chaotic somedays, but I'm so thankful that we made the decision to educate him this way this year. Not only is he learning all kinds of things, but Gabe is benefiting as well. Ladan is a servant at heart and is a life-saver to me! He's still a sports fanatic and dreams about the day when he can play football and baseball on real teams.
Gabe turned 3 in September. This kid has some spunk! He has been aptly described as "exuberant". To date, I don't think there's ever been a time when we've wondered how he has felt about something. He has been through his fair share of changes this year. In addition to everything mentioned above, Gabe moved to a big bed, learned to use the potty, moved into a room with Ladan, and gave up his place as the baby of the family. We're still working on getting him to give up the pacifier when he sleeps. One thing at a time. He's learned his letters and their sounds and is beginning to be able to determine what letter words begin with. He gets really excited about the small things and greets me every morning with the sweetest "Hi, Mom-mom!" you've ever heard. A couple weeks ago, he was playing on the floor with Claire sweetly saying, "Jesus loves Claire!" He is persistent in almost every way... when he's trying something new, when he wants something, and when he's disobeying. He'll probably grow up to be some sort of Washington lobbyist or something. That is, if we can break his persistence to disobey and help him maintain it in the other areas. May the Lord be merciful to help us!
Planting a church has definitely been an adventure for us! Throughout the 9 1/2 months we've been here, we have been challenged in ways that we never expected. Our marriage has been stretched. We have been stretched as parents. We have taken on roles we may never have otherwise chosen, and we're learning new things all the time.
Mostly, we have learned so many new applications of the Gospel that we can't possibly count them. We have been challenged to extend and receive grace more freely and more deeply. The fact that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross covers our many sins is more and more precious to us daily. It is our only purpose for being here, and it's our motivation to keep going. It has changed and continues to transform us, and our prayer is that the Lord will somehow use us to share the richness of His mercy and love with others... and that there will be many who BELIEVE!
As we reflect on this year, it is clear that we were not alone. Our heavenly Father was with us every step of the way providing everything we needed. Through growth, joy, excitement, trial, conflict, restoration, disappointment, accomplishment and transition, we have been SO BLESSED! The Lord is our strength and our song indeed!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
She's SMILING... and Ladan's First Painting
Here are some photos of Claire in her little church dress. Actually, it's a dress that I wore when I was a baby. She's 6 weeks old, and she's SMILING!!!! All these girly things are so much fun!
Ladan Painting a Purple Pansy using Pointellism!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Well, Look at You!
Gabe has been hilarious lately! This morning I had on an old t-shirt that my dad got me YEARS ago to wear as pajamas. It's basically an extra-large t-shirt with dolphins on it. When I got up from feeding Claire, I helped Gabe go to the bathroom. He was standing on the toilet while I washed my hands. He suddenly looked over at me and said in his very expressive voice, "Well, look at you! You got whales all over your shirt!" If you know Gabe's voice, you'll know how funny this was... and if you don't know his voice, I wish I had a recording for you.
When he doesn't like something that someone else says--like when you tell him to eat the chip in his mouth before he gets another one--he puts on his best stern face, points quickly to the stairs, and says in his best stern voice, "Go to yo' bed!" Today I told him that he wasn't going to be able to watch Tom and Jerry, and he promptly told me to go to my bed. If only I could have obeyed him! I needed a nap!
Other updates....
I took Claire to her one-month appointment last Friday, and she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 21.5 inches long. Still lighter than both the boys at birth with an extra half inch compared to their birth measurements. She's a skinny little peanut. She's growing just fine though, and the doctor didn't even mention her size as an issue at all. She had a lot of catching up to do after she lost nearly a pound in the hospital.
She's starting to lose the hair on the top of her head. We'll see if she loses the rest. She's gripping things pretty well and held her first toy today and waved it around all by herself for quite a few minutes. I can tell she's about ready to start smiling here in the next week or two. She's got these huge bright eyes when she gets excited, and today she was starting to move her mouth in the direction of a big fat grin... but it's not there quite yet.
Ladan is doing really well with school. Handwriting is not his favorite or best thing at all, but many of his lessons require quite a bit of writing practice. He's getting loads better, but we were both tired of spending so much time on this every day. So he does all the writing associated with his math every day. However, I decided to only do parts of the assignments in his phonics curriculum so that we could skip ahead to the parts where he's reading. Since he's already a reader, I felt like he wasn't being challenged in this way, was getting bored, and was getting a bit discouraged as well. According to my projections, it was going to take us through the end of October to get to read a book that he's already read on his own, which seemed crazy to me. So I'm going to rearrange the order of quite a few assignments in order to spread out the handwriting stuff and pull the reading stuff forward. It's working MUCH BETTER so far. I guess that's the cool thing about homeschooling... I can totally rearrange things to keep pressing ahead in areas where he's very strong and give him more time to work on the things where he needs more work.
I'd say that homeschooling is going very well so far. But there is not yet a pattern to our days. I'm so thankful that I didn't expect any kind of routine at this stage of Claire's life. I look forward to the day when things are just a little bit more predictable... and for now, I'm just fine with the fact that I may not get a whole lot done other than school, feeding my infant, playing with the kids, communicating with my husband, keeping the clothes and cloth diapers clean, washing dishes, buying groceries, preparing meals, paying bills, spending time with Redeemer folks, and reading the Word... oh, and sleeping occasionally.
Chet's been working like a mad man getting all manner of things prepared for when Redeemer starts having services every Sunday. We will finish up core team development by the end of October and begin weekly services on November 1. There is much to be done between now and then, but we have an excellent team, and things seem to be trucking along. While there's some work left to be done on our website, it is live now. Check it out at http://www.redeemerchurchcu.com when you get a second.
Exciting things are also happening with His Voice for Sudan, the ministry that my brother and Amber started several years ago!!!! Their blog is in transition, so they have two right now: http://www.sudanskids.blogspot.com and http://www.hisvoiceforsudan.blogspot.com.
Well, my bed is screaming my name, so I'm going to try to get there before my infant is screaming my name again.
When he doesn't like something that someone else says--like when you tell him to eat the chip in his mouth before he gets another one--he puts on his best stern face, points quickly to the stairs, and says in his best stern voice, "Go to yo' bed!" Today I told him that he wasn't going to be able to watch Tom and Jerry, and he promptly told me to go to my bed. If only I could have obeyed him! I needed a nap!
Other updates....
I took Claire to her one-month appointment last Friday, and she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 21.5 inches long. Still lighter than both the boys at birth with an extra half inch compared to their birth measurements. She's a skinny little peanut. She's growing just fine though, and the doctor didn't even mention her size as an issue at all. She had a lot of catching up to do after she lost nearly a pound in the hospital.
She's starting to lose the hair on the top of her head. We'll see if she loses the rest. She's gripping things pretty well and held her first toy today and waved it around all by herself for quite a few minutes. I can tell she's about ready to start smiling here in the next week or two. She's got these huge bright eyes when she gets excited, and today she was starting to move her mouth in the direction of a big fat grin... but it's not there quite yet.
Ladan is doing really well with school. Handwriting is not his favorite or best thing at all, but many of his lessons require quite a bit of writing practice. He's getting loads better, but we were both tired of spending so much time on this every day. So he does all the writing associated with his math every day. However, I decided to only do parts of the assignments in his phonics curriculum so that we could skip ahead to the parts where he's reading. Since he's already a reader, I felt like he wasn't being challenged in this way, was getting bored, and was getting a bit discouraged as well. According to my projections, it was going to take us through the end of October to get to read a book that he's already read on his own, which seemed crazy to me. So I'm going to rearrange the order of quite a few assignments in order to spread out the handwriting stuff and pull the reading stuff forward. It's working MUCH BETTER so far. I guess that's the cool thing about homeschooling... I can totally rearrange things to keep pressing ahead in areas where he's very strong and give him more time to work on the things where he needs more work.
I'd say that homeschooling is going very well so far. But there is not yet a pattern to our days. I'm so thankful that I didn't expect any kind of routine at this stage of Claire's life. I look forward to the day when things are just a little bit more predictable... and for now, I'm just fine with the fact that I may not get a whole lot done other than school, feeding my infant, playing with the kids, communicating with my husband, keeping the clothes and cloth diapers clean, washing dishes, buying groceries, preparing meals, paying bills, spending time with Redeemer folks, and reading the Word... oh, and sleeping occasionally.
Chet's been working like a mad man getting all manner of things prepared for when Redeemer starts having services every Sunday. We will finish up core team development by the end of October and begin weekly services on November 1. There is much to be done between now and then, but we have an excellent team, and things seem to be trucking along. While there's some work left to be done on our website, it is live now. Check it out at http://www.redeemerchurchcu.com when you get a second.
Exciting things are also happening with His Voice for Sudan, the ministry that my brother and Amber started several years ago!!!! Their blog is in transition, so they have two right now: http://www.sudanskids.blogspot.com and http://www.hisvoiceforsudan.blogspot.com.
Well, my bed is screaming my name, so I'm going to try to get there before my infant is screaming my name again.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Things I'm Thankful for Today
- Tiny baby bodies
- The nap I got to take this afternoon
- The fact that this is the easiest of the three c-section recoveries so far. I stopped taking the prescription pain medication on day 6 and have just been taking ibuprofen as needed since. Don't get me wrong. It's still not easy, but it's been so much better than the first two.
- My husband. He's been so helpful, which is a huge blessing to me!
- Chet's mom came to help us for 10 days!
- Gabe is almost completely potty-trained and will even go when we're out somewhere strange.
- Both the boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their baby sister! They take such good care of her!
- I've been able to lay on my side for the last couple of days when I sleep (as opposed to only being able to lay on my back). This means that when the boys come downstairs in the mornings, they can lay by me on the couch for a few minutes.
- I've lost almost 23 of the 28 pounds I gained... without doing anything except take care of our family and avoid a bunch of junk food. I do not necessarily expect that the rest will come off at the same rate or that my abs will be flat right away, but we'll see. It's not like I can exercise at this point. I'm still limiting myself to no more than two trips up and down the stairs each day, and we all know that two trips up and down the stairs is not exactly a good cardio workout. Speaking of cardio workouts, I was just telling Chet yesterday that I am so pumped that I should soon be able to walk briskly or even jog for longer distances again! I can't wait!
- Our friends here are awesome! Their help getting things done before the baby came has helped so much now that she's here!
- When Claire does that involuntary smiley thing that tiny babies do when they're just waking up or dozing off. She's so cute! I think it's the Lord's way of giving us the joy of seeing a little glimpse of what it's going to be like when they're smiling on purpose and even laughing!
- Our neighbors blessed us with a bag of really awesome stuff for Claire tonight! Our power went out in a storm this afternoon, so we were all out on the front porches hanging out when they gave it to us. Linda (the wife) cried when she got to hold Claire. She's a grandma and a neonatal nurse, so she said she can't help it.
- While we were out on the porch, the boys were running and splashing in the puddles of rain that blew up on the porch. I love watching them have so much fun in puddles. Usually I run with them, so Gabe said, "Come on, Mom! Run!" I explained that I couldn't run because my tummy hurts still. He replied, "Can you walk?" So I started walking, and he stood on the other side of the porch leaning over, clapping his hands, and saying, "Come on, Mom! Come on, Mom!" in his best encouraging voice. It was so funny!
- Our laundry is on the second floor where our bedrooms are. At first I wasn't too sure that this was superior to having it on the first level. However, I can just barely make it up and down the stairs carrying my pillow and a few other miscellaneous items... clearly making it impossible to carry baskets of clothing up and down. Needless to say, it's great to have it all right there.
- I finally get to have hot pink, lime green, orange, yellow, turqouise, and all manner of bright colors decorating a room!!!! It's not my own room, but it's a room in our home that doesn't have muted colors, and I LOVE IT! Anyone who knows me well knows that I thoroughly enjoy color and would like it everywhere. However, Chet prefers more muted shades (which I like okay, but I wouldn't choose them over bright colors)... and until we can afford new furniture and paint for our walls, we have a ton of beige everywhere in our house... but not in Claire's room. It makes me happy every time I walk past her door. I can't wait until she can use her room more!
- There were quite a few things we needed from the grocery store last night. However, after a trip to the splash park and Campus Town to get ice cream on Friday and then swimming lessons and a visit to Target on Saturday morning, I wasn't exactly up for walking through the grocery store. So we went to the store as a family, and Claire and I both took our first ride around on one of those motorized scooter carts while Chet pushed the regular cart with the boys in it. It was lots of fun to go to the store together, and we actually got everything we needed without me doubling over in pain by the end of it! I'm always blessed when Chet and I can do something together as a team, and he absolutely hates going to the grocery store, so this was particularly fun for me!
- They gave me an elastic binder to go around my mid-section when I was in the hospital, and it's amazing. It holds my muscles all together, and it helps keep things away from my incision. As I'm losing my baby belly pretty rapidly, it's starting to get a little bit less comfortable simply because my incision is right there next to it all the time, but it's still a DRAMATIC improvement over having my clothes hitting it all day. If any of you ever has a c-section, and they don't give you one of these in the hospital, you have to go out and buy one yourself (well, have someone do it for you). They carry them at Motherhood Maternity and Babies R Us for sure.
- Cameras. I have so much fun taking photos of our family! I can't wait to post some of the recent photos I've taken of life around here. They're not all fabulous photography worthy of an award of any kind... but they will definitely be the type of photo that brings good memories in the future.
- Claire is eating lots better, and I can tell she's filling out at least a little bit. She's still a sleepy little thing, which is very different than both the boys.
- I just heard Chet go into the boys' room after the power was restored for the second time tonight. I'm pretty sure he was showing Ladan how to use the flashlight if it goes out again. As he was leaving the room, I heard Ladan say, "Okay! I can do that! I'll obey right away, Dad."
Well, there are many other things I'm thankful for today, but I'll stop with these for now. I'll try to post more photos soon.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Here She Is... Claire Ellise
We are SO EXCITED to announce that the Lord has blessed us with a precious baby girl!
Claire Ellise was born August 6, 2009 at 10:02am.
She weighed 7 lb. 11 oz. and measured 20.5 inches in length.
She has tiny little features; dark blue eyes (we'll see if they change); long skinny arms, legs, fingers and toes; squishy little cheeks; a super-cute face; and two big brothers who ADORE her!
Here's the story....
We arrived at the hospital at 6am on Thursday. We were scheduled for 8am, but we had a slight delay because there was a woman who needed an emergency c-section ahead of us. I was that woman needing to bump someone else five years ago, so we didn't mind. It was nice to have the extra time, actually, because I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic they gave me and needed some time to let the Benadryl take over. Here we are waiting.
Things were in good shape after they gave me the anesthesia and got me past the associated nausea and super-low blood pressure leading to cold sweats and lightheadedness. I know that those things are going to happen, so I warn them, and they have the stuff ready to remedy things and get me back to normal quickly. This photo was taken during the surgery. Kind of funny, huh?
And here is Miss Claire making her entry into the world! They invited Chet to look over the curtain when they had just her head out, but for some reason, he declined and waited until this moment! :) Seriously, I'm pretty sure I would have passed out on his behalf if he had actually looked over that curtain. Smart guy!
Ladan and Gabe were in good hands with Chet's mom and sister back at the house. They were very excited to meet their baby sister! Ladan was very quiet and reserved entering the room, because he knew what had just happened to me and that I'd be pretty sore. He crawled up into the bed with me very gently and asked if he could hold his baby sister. He is AMAZING with her! He holds her so gently, gives her kisses on her cheeks and forehead and tells her he loves her all the time. He will literally hold her for an hour, and he asks multiple times a day if he can sit with her. It's so great to see him protecting her and caring for her this way!
Gabe loves her too! He wants to give her hugs and kisses. He also enjoys messing up her hair and saying, "Crazy hair!" to her. He was thankful to hold this little dog that my mom sent for Claire. He took care of the dog while Ladan took care of Claire. It was really fun!
Here are some of Claire's visitors...
Aunt Megan, Keith Sparrow (Claire is the first baby Keith has held, and he was FANTASTIC with her!), and my mom (Stephanie)
Chet's mom (Glenna), and of course another one of Mommy and Ladan with Claire.
The sleeping girl. She loves to sleep, that's for sure!
We spent quite a bit of time like this in the room... me holding Claire with the boys at the foot of the bed eating a snack or watching a movie. In these pictures, they're watching Tom and Jerry for the first time ever. Ladan was belly laughing through much of it!
We were also blessed to have a helicopter pad right outside our window! The boys got to see helicopters lift off and land several times a day, which was great fun! As soon as Gabe would come into the room, he'd run to the window and exclaim, "I wanna' see a pretty cool helicopter!" Chet was at least as entertained by it as the boys were!
On our way home Sunday morning!
And here we are at home! The boys were sporting their "Big Brother" t-shirts that my mom sent them, and they were ready to greet their baby sister as soon as we arrived!
While we were in the hospital, Claire lost quite a bit of weight--10% of her original weight--but she was on the uphill climb by the time we left. We took her to the doctor today, and she had gained back another ounce. She isn't in any danger of jaundice, so that's great! And it seems like everything else has checked out okay.
While this c-section has been difficult just because of what it is, my recovery has been better than the other two for sure. There seem to be several reasons for this. I didn't have to labor like I did with Ladan, and Claire wasn't gripping my insides like Gabe was. They also gave me a binder to wrap around my mid-section in the hospital, and it is an amazing help! I didn't have anything like this with either of the boys, but I so wish I had! It really helps to keep things off my incision and holds my muscles in better position so that they're not constantly being strained all day. I'm very thankful for this band of elastic!
We are more than grateful for the extra help we've had! Chet's mom is here with us for a total of 10 days, which is a huge sacrifice for her at this point (though she would never ever make us feel badly about it). She's taking time away from work and from getting her own home back in order after the tornado that went through a few months ago. She's excellent help! After she goes, my mom and then my stepmom are coming to extend our help for an extra week and a half or so. Not everyone has this kind of help, and we are not taking it for granted!
Well, I'm off to try to get some sleep! It's a good thing I'm on pain medication that requires me to sleep. Otherwise, I'd probably be overdoing it right now!
(For some weird reason, I cannot get Blogger to follow directions when I return down to start a new paragraph... and I also have no energy left to continue trying just so it looks perfect... so thanks for bearing with me!)
Friday, May 29, 2009
Claire Ellise
Below is a copy of an e-mail I sent out to some folks tonight to provide an update on Baby Claire after today's ultrasound. When we had our first ultrasound in mid-April, the only "issue" was that she has an echogenic foci (described below). They were checking today to see if it was gone yet and just to check to see that everything's still in good order otherwise. So here's the update...
I am 28 weeks and 6 days pregnant today. Claire weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces, which is right about average. She has hair on her head (we'll see if she keeps that or if it falls out and refrains from growing back for a year and a half like her brothers' hair). She does still have the echogenic foci, which shows up as a tiny shiny fleck in her heart on the ultrasound. About 1% or less of babies who still have this during the second trimester end up having Down's syndrome, which is really the only possible connected condition to the echogenic foci. So far, there are no other indicators that she has Down's, and the doctor today didn't even mention it. When he said, "Her heart looks good," I asked him if the foci was gone (because I was pretty sure I saw it about 5 different times during the ultrasound). He said, "Oh, well, there is a note here that it's still present, but there's almost no chance that it will turn into anything. We'll just let the pediatrician know, and that's about it." So, of course, we're not making assumptions that she's perfectly healthy with absolutely nothing to think about, but there's really no reason to research anything further at this point. We'll see what happens when she comes out.
There is one other issue to consider.... She probably actually has a greater chance of being born with whiplash than Down's syndrome! Today during the ultrasound, the tech was trying to get a 3-D image of her face, and she kept turning her back on us. I pushed up on my belly from the underside three times, and what we saw on the screen was HILARIOUS! Her head was thrown back and forth three times just like she had just been through a car wreck and they were replaying it in slow motion over and over again. She looked like a crash test dummy! We all cracked up laughing! I wish we had it on video! Praise God for allowing these babies to grow in a safe environment where they're protected from crazy moms! :)
Anyway, she's growing well, everything looks normal (even the echogenic foci is often considered a "normal" condition in that it shows up fairly regularly in healthy babies), there's just the right amount of amniotic fluid in there with her which is a sign of a healthy baby, and she's moving around plenty! At one point, she yawned really big, which was pretty funny. I started thinking though. Isn't it crazy how God designs for babies to develop in this strange fluid, breathing it in, swallowing it, and moving around in it... and if they come out too early, they can't breathe air well and will die? And then, once they're done developing, something happens. They're born, and as soon as they come out, they need to be cleared of all the fluid immediately, because if they're not breathing air, they'll die. In an instant, their means of survival changes to something so completely opposite. It's just wild!
I've included a couple of the ultrasound photos. Her cord was floating in front of her face, so we couldn't get a complete 3-D shot of her face... but there's definitely enough that you can see her pretty well. Keep in mind, of course, that things are a little bit distorted because of the fluid she's living in and because she's still got a lot of skin to grow into, so she's not likely to actually come out with a wrinkled face and droopy cheeks!
I have a whole list of things that I'm wanting to write updates about, but for now I'm going to call it a night. I'm planning to wake up "early" (which for me will be about 7am) to go to a used homeschooling book sale tomorrow. I've identified the curriculum I'd like to use with Ladan this next year, and I'm hoping I can find a good deal on at least a couple of the items. We'll see how it goes!
I am 28 weeks and 6 days pregnant today. Claire weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces, which is right about average. She has hair on her head (we'll see if she keeps that or if it falls out and refrains from growing back for a year and a half like her brothers' hair). She does still have the echogenic foci, which shows up as a tiny shiny fleck in her heart on the ultrasound. About 1% or less of babies who still have this during the second trimester end up having Down's syndrome, which is really the only possible connected condition to the echogenic foci. So far, there are no other indicators that she has Down's, and the doctor today didn't even mention it. When he said, "Her heart looks good," I asked him if the foci was gone (because I was pretty sure I saw it about 5 different times during the ultrasound). He said, "Oh, well, there is a note here that it's still present, but there's almost no chance that it will turn into anything. We'll just let the pediatrician know, and that's about it." So, of course, we're not making assumptions that she's perfectly healthy with absolutely nothing to think about, but there's really no reason to research anything further at this point. We'll see what happens when she comes out.
There is one other issue to consider.... She probably actually has a greater chance of being born with whiplash than Down's syndrome! Today during the ultrasound, the tech was trying to get a 3-D image of her face, and she kept turning her back on us. I pushed up on my belly from the underside three times, and what we saw on the screen was HILARIOUS! Her head was thrown back and forth three times just like she had just been through a car wreck and they were replaying it in slow motion over and over again. She looked like a crash test dummy! We all cracked up laughing! I wish we had it on video! Praise God for allowing these babies to grow in a safe environment where they're protected from crazy moms! :)
Anyway, she's growing well, everything looks normal (even the echogenic foci is often considered a "normal" condition in that it shows up fairly regularly in healthy babies), there's just the right amount of amniotic fluid in there with her which is a sign of a healthy baby, and she's moving around plenty! At one point, she yawned really big, which was pretty funny. I started thinking though. Isn't it crazy how God designs for babies to develop in this strange fluid, breathing it in, swallowing it, and moving around in it... and if they come out too early, they can't breathe air well and will die? And then, once they're done developing, something happens. They're born, and as soon as they come out, they need to be cleared of all the fluid immediately, because if they're not breathing air, they'll die. In an instant, their means of survival changes to something so completely opposite. It's just wild!
I've included a couple of the ultrasound photos. Her cord was floating in front of her face, so we couldn't get a complete 3-D shot of her face... but there's definitely enough that you can see her pretty well. Keep in mind, of course, that things are a little bit distorted because of the fluid she's living in and because she's still got a lot of skin to grow into, so she's not likely to actually come out with a wrinkled face and droopy cheeks!
I have a whole list of things that I'm wanting to write updates about, but for now I'm going to call it a night. I'm planning to wake up "early" (which for me will be about 7am) to go to a used homeschooling book sale tomorrow. I've identified the curriculum I'd like to use with Ladan this next year, and I'm hoping I can find a good deal on at least a couple of the items. We'll see how it goes!
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