Good Report

We had Sadie's appointment with the pediatrician this morning for her well-child check. She was calm and cool as usual. This was our first visit with our new pediatrician, so I found myself trying to remember all that I had to tell him. It's easy to forget all the details sometimes.

I really like this new pediatrican and he is super patient and asks a lot of questions which is huge to me. The stats on Sadie are good and it was encouraging to hear the doctor's thoughts. I left the sheet of paper there at the office, so I don't remember the exact numbers, but here's a rough estimate:
weight: 15 pounds, something ounces [5th percentile]
height: don't remember but it was the 3rd percentile
head: 16 and something cm [5th percentile]

She is absolutely amazing and surprises me every day. In the last week the girl has figured out how to sit up without any hesitation, how to move from sitting to her tummy, how to scoot across the room and how to get up on her hands and knees. Amazing!

Now if I could just figure where the last nine months went...sheesh!

Weekend Visitors

Aunt Lisa drove up to see us this weekend with her three fabulous kids, and boy, did we have some serious fun. I love having people in my house, and I especially love it when they bring friends for my kids! We can't wait to see them again soon!

Sadie and Max started chatting right away.

You spent how long in your car seat?

Saturday morning we headed out to the park bright and early.

Penny was a force to be reckoned with as she patrolled with her big stick.

The boys were quickly hauled off to jail!

We also had fun on the swings, but they were a bit sunny.

The little ones were their chill, charming selves.

Oh, my, goodness, could you eat him up?

Mr. Silly was there for a bit.

Unfortunately, Mr. not-so-Silly showed up too.

However, all sadness diminished when we discovered this giant see-saw spring thingy.

Even Aunt Lisa and J couldn't resist going for a ride. Just pretend this picture isn't blurry and imagine you are there with us watching Sadie have the time of her life. She loved it!

There was also lots of eating.

Sunday we got up and managed to get ourselves out the door for church, on time. Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

I tried to capture a few shots after breakfast, but I couldn't seem to get anyone to look at me.

Jack enjoyed his own little dance party.

Penny was really excited about the shirt Lisa and I made for her Saturday night, but she was a little reluctant to model it!

Shown here with pajama pants. It is seriously beyond cute on her!

We can't wait to see these guys again!

En Plie

It's finally here! After weeks of anticipation, Ella's ballet classes started today. She was absolutely beside herself. The countdown to the beginning of class began almost ten days ago, and she has faithfully reminded me each day how much longer until ballet day.

She quickly found a spot of purple tape on the floor and claimed it as her own.

See how I look in the mirror...check.

Watch the other girls find their places...check.

Ready to go.

There was a late arrival and watching her put her shoes on was very interesting.

I wanted to get a shot of her with her teacher, Ms. Brandy, but she was helping everyone get set, so we settled for a shot of her blond ponytail. How fabulous is Ella's bun?

And with one final pic, Jack and I headed back out to the lobby to watch her on the closed circuit television.

Jack was devastated, totally devastated, that he did not get to stay and dance with 'hella.' It was a long, sad walk back up the hall. He finally settled down when he realized I was more available to cater to his desire to read books, and we spent the 45 minutes reading one book after another. I managed to steal a few glances at the screen between pages and stories.

Ella loved every minute and is still talking about how her teacher had her roll around like a hot dog and put mustard and ketchup on her. The countdown has already begun for next week's class!

She's off

Just when I think this little munchkin can't get any sweeter, she does!

Checking it out.

There she goes.

It's a bird...

It's a plane

It's super Sadie!

Too precious.

We've definitely seen some encouraging changes in the past week. Sadie is responding to noises in some new ways. Sometimes it makes me laugh, and sometimes it makes me cry to notice the subtle changes. It's awesome. Also, her balance seems much improved. She is more stable when she sits. She is scooting around, and she likes to pull her knees up under her body and rock around. I have no doubt she will be crawling in no time!

On having full hands...

It's been an interesting adjustment with Bo in school. We went to the grocery store this morning, and there was just something about only unbuckling and managing three kids that just felt a little, well, off. It's not that I don't welcome and enjoy the change; it's just different.

It's certainly been common practice for me to take all my kids with me for errands and appointments: grocery store, pediatrician, shoe shopping, the OB/gyn, etc. I just simply have not had any other option.

It's commonplace to hear, "my, you have your hands full" at least once an outing. I'm never completely sure how to respond. I mean, one child pretty much fills your arms and then you have to get a little more creative with getting them around, right? And given the fact that I grew up the oldest of five and J is one of seven, I just don't often think of four as that many. Please don't hear me saying it's easy because there are certainly days that wear me out, but I'm not exactly feeling like the old lady in the shoe at this point.

The funny thing is that I've run many errands since Bo started school, and no one has mentioned that I have my hands full. I just find that so interesting. I mean, the kids ages aren't any different, we're just minus one big brother. I guess maybe three kids seems more commonplace than four. Whatever the reason, it doesn't change the fact that my hands are very full, and I love it!

Jack and Ella seem to be adjusting to not having Bo around as a playmate. They are the best of friends and they are the worst of friends, but it's sweet to watch them enjoy one another, most of the time.

Figuring out the video game system.

Playing doctor.

Jack had some sort of traumatic arm injury that required some attention from dr. ella.

Recovery

Sadie is a champ. She's been a dream today. She slept until 7 AM without a peep and woke up happy and content. The girl just consistently amazes me. While there doesn't seem to be any change in her response to sounds, I realize that it's still to early to make any decisions.

Also, I'm not sure that she knows her name. I guess I can't expect her to turn and look at me when I say "Sadie" if she hasn't heard me call her by name for the last eight months. It makes me a little sad to think that she might not even recognize her own name [an adorable one at that], but then I see this little face and I just can't help but smile.

Hmmmm...

Checkin' out the bumbo.

Mashing the upper and lower teeth together.

It makes a lovely nails on chalkboard sound that the girl seems to love!

The pigtails are to die for.

Classic Sadie-love it!

And because some of you have been asking, I will add that yes, we did get a new camera. The pictures are much improved, but I think that's mostly because of the jump in megapixels.

After paying our moving expenses and insurance costs, we had a little profit left over from the sale of our house in Oklahoma. We'd been talking about getting a new camera for a while and decided to go ahead and take the plunge. And the only thing I can say is that I wish we had done it sooner. I finally feel like the pictures actually reflect the reality of the moment. I LOVE the feeling of a moment well captured. I need to figure out how to really use it, but I am enjoying the learning process!

We did it!

We made it through Bo's first week of kindergarten. It was a week that kicked my rear end for sure, but it was seriously fun for all.

Given the fact that Bo has never done any sort of formal schooling, I was nervous about his first experience. He's also my first which just makes it that much less familiar.

Homeschooling is something I have considered, seriously, and at this point, we really felt like it was not the best thing for Bo. I may have him home later on or other kids home for school at some point, but school is the right place for him right now. I've been praying for his teacher for the last two years.

Bo is extremely intelligent and he needs a teacher that will challenge him and allow him to explore beyond kindergarten skills. He is also a perfectionist to a fault, and I think having someone other than mom help him figure out how to learn to be a little bit flexible is an extremely important life lesson.

At our open house Monday night, I was just amazed at the teacher and how her gifting really suits Bo's needs. She is young [which was an initial concern] and relatively new to the field, but she is going to be a great fit for him. AND she has a lizard in her room, so that makes her cool for sure.

School was always a safe and happy place for me. I loved going to school. The routine, the relationships, the predictability of my day and my experiences were comforting. I think Bo's experience will be similar. I can honestly say that I have relished these last five years "off." I'm glad I had five years of unplanned mornings, long lunches with all the kids, and long afternoon naps. I've enjoyed the fluidity of it and the flexibility in every day, BUT I also really enjoy this new groove. There are hard things: getting everyone out the door by 7:45 AM, being back at school by 3 PM to pick Bo up, interrupted naps, long afternoons, and packing daily lunches, but they remind me that a new season is coming.

As I've watched the buses roll past in the fall and walked past the school supply section of the store, I felt a deep nostalgia. Memories of learning, teaching, and experience living the classroom came flooding back. Now that we are in the midst of all of it again, I find myself remembering just how much I loved it and still love it.

I know these little ones will all be gone in an instant. Geez, how is it that I already have a five year old? Even if we chose to homeschool our kids all the way through high school, I know that eighteen years would be a breath. The time just flies! I called my sister from the pick up line that first day and said, "you have to have more kids. now! How do you handle twins starting school at the same time?"

I've also been overwhelmed this week by the feeling that our family is not complete. [NO, I am NOT pregnant.] Perhaps it's the fact that Sadie is getting close to the age that the others were when I got pregnant. Perhaps it's the fact that this is the longest I've been without nursing or carrying a babe in the last six years. Either way, I'm getting excited to see how God will expand our family in the coming years.
I also have to mention that Ella started school this week. She loves our time every day and we are having so much fun chatting and coloring together.

I'm just glad they only leave one at a time!

I know it won't be this easy in November...

After a mere 3.5 hours total in the hospital [which may or may not have included a brief stop at Ben and Jerry's for some post-op ice cream], we are home with one sweet Sadie Bess.

Let me just say, the girl is a rock star!

She was happy as can be in the waiting room chewing on my hair. When daddy tried to hold her for a minute, she was bummed to miss out her hair snack. Poor girl was definitely hungry.

She perked up back in pre-op after a change of clothes and some fun toys with lights that nurse Jane brought for her.

She drifted off in my arms for twenty minutes or so before the nurses came to get her.


I'm not sure if she even woke up during the hand off to go back to surgery because I saw her all snuggled into the surgery nurse as they walked down the hallway. I didn't even cry.

It was truly surprising to see the doctor 15 minutes later and hear that all was well. Ten minutes after that, she was snuggled into my arms. My arms feel so empty when she is in the operating room, and I love the heaviness of her afterwards. She was happy to gulp down a bottle of pedialyte and apple juice and kept it down so we were good to go. It was really that easy.

She's a little top heavy and a bit unsteady so we have to watch her and hold her a little more carefully. She's napping now and we'll hope that her solids go down uneventfully this evening. Whew. A few ear drops and we're good to go!

I will say that I half expected her to be a little overwhelmed by the noise post-op. At this point, there is some uncertainty about the status of her hearing. There is some normal function, we're just not sure if there is a problem other than the fluid. She didn't really seem to be hearing any better than she was before the surgery. The girl's been through a lot so I'm not making any decisions about what is or is not happening at this point, but there was no immediate change in her noticing the noise around her. And there were quite a few beeps from all the machines!

Time is the great revealer of all things, and I am certain we will have more information as she recovers. We have a follow up appointment with the surgeon in early October and we will repeat some of her testing at that point to determine what we need to do next. In the mean time, I will bump up the amount of sign language that I am doing with her. [This was the advice of a woman I connected with at Bo's school. A gal in Bo's class has a younger brother with cleft lip and palate and the mom has already been a great help in terms of advice!]

Thank you so much for your calls, emails, texts, and prayers today.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!