Friends

Don't know what I would do if God hadn't blessed our family with such great friends. Valentine's Day was so much fun with these kiddos, and I pray these relationships grow as our kids do.

Sick, again

My oh my, it is exhausting to see little ones sick so often. The twins got sick in January and are still fighting nasty coughs. Keaton went to the doctor three times last week: cough (doctor said wait it out), fever 104.4 (sinus infection and on Rx), ear pain (ear infection, while on Rx for sinus infection). His cough is finally getting better, and no fever for over a week. McKenna's cough has hung around for weeks and Tuesday afternoon it seemed to intensify. Last night, Wednesday, she coughed continually and got little sleep. It's funny that the school rules are kids can go as long as they are fever free for 24 hours, or on Rx for 24 hours. Well, no fever, and no Rx, so she has been going to school. That's how germs and viruses are spread. At the same time, everyone else is sending their kids to school in the same condition, so I feel justified even knowing my kids are getting others sick. If I wait until they are cough free they will get the cough the following week. As this blog is being written, McKenna is doing a breathing treatment/inhaler for her cough and I am just crossing my fingers and praying that it helps cough a little less today. She can't seem to talk or move without coughing, and she is finally becoming a very talkative/active little girl so I really don't want to tell her to slow down, or to stop talking.

Kindergarten Screening

A few weeks ago I received a public school magazine with an ad to sign the twins up for kindergarten screening. The ad was cut and stuck to the fridge and each day I see it and get anxious at the idea of sending our children to school, all day, away from mommy and daddy and our teachings, and into a world where I have little control. When the kids were signed up for pre-K last fall I had a lot of anxiety attacks and was so stressed about how I would handle two 5-hour days a week away from them. Unfortunately, I have grown dependent upon them being dependent upon me. Luckily, those two days are filled with running errands, shopping, cleaning, taking care of the house and family and me time. It is my only time that is just for me, and Kyle has been amazing at not making me fill that time with tasks and activities but just letting me do whatever I want. Kindergarten will be 7 hours (I think) away from mommy, and while the time will no doubt be filled quickly, I struggle at the thought of going from full-time mommy to full-time house wife with kids away. A person can only deep clean, grocery shop, cook and organize for so long before they go crazy. Today was a big day. I called to sign them up for the screening. No, it wasn't the actual screening. That is still two months away. But signing them up made it more of a reality they are indeed leaving me this fall for school. I took a deep breath when calling to sign them up and when talking to the woman on the phone I actually got a little excited. Keaton lovesssss pre-k. He counts down the days to go to school. When sick, he cries because he doesn't want to miss. McKenna doesn't love school, but she has begun adapting. She loves her Tuesday class because she knows after it is dance. A part of her anxiety with school is the routine. While it is twice a week, that does allow several days at home before going back, so by Tuesday she just wants to be with mommy again. Kindergarten will be good for her to see Monday through Friday she has school. My prayers will begin today that God leads them to the right classroom, with the right teacher and the right students and friends. I can't wait to hear about their first day of school and all the friends they will meet and the amazing things they will learn that mommy hasn't been able to teach them. The next few months will be dedicated to enjoying every minute with the kids before they start the journey of school for the next 12 plus years, and hopefully I will be able to convince myself this journey is not about me losing my role as stay at home mom, but rather the kids learning their role as student, friend and amazing kiddos outside, as well as inside of their home.

A new year

Can't believe 2014 is already here and the blogging has greatly decreased during the past twelve months. So here are a few key things missed: The twins are in pre-k at James River. Keaton loves school. He is very social, gets in trouble often for saying potty words (poop, bum bum, toot) and calling names (dilah pants - whatever that means, and diaper baby). I walk the kids to their classroom each morning and pick them up in their classroom each afternoon, although Keaton asks that I just drop him off and let him walk to the room himself. He knows all his letters and numbers (counts to 100) and can write them. He loves practicing addition and subtraction and sounding out letters to read. He can read short stories and knows a handful of site words in addition to sounding out the words. He loves school and projects and challenges. He is energetic, funny and aggressive in life. McKenna has gotten better with school. She only cries for a minute or two when dropped off at class. She refuses to walk to class herself and insists mommy walks her to the room, which in all honesty makes me feel good. She loves art! She always wants to paint, glue, cut, draw or do anything crafty. She has grown a bit more independent but is still pretty timid and cautious about life. She is starting to talk a little bit to the other kids in class, which is exciting to see. She can identify most of her upper case letters, a handful of her lower case letters, and she can identify most numbers 1-10 (except for 6 and 9). She is working on writing and can write a few letters now (x, s, t, o, m, n and a backward c). We are working on getting McKenna to write her name. Her teacher, Ms Amber, said McKenna does a great job holding her pencil. Both kids are left-handed. McKenna started dance class in January. She is learning some ballet, but mainly it is geared to just get kids moving. It is amazing the impact it seems to have had on McKenna's interaction with other kids. There are six girls in the class and though McKenna doesn't really talk at all, she does follow direction and then she will show us little things throughout the week that she has learned. It was suppose to be just a six week class, but they have changed it to a monthly thing so we will most likely keep her in the class at least until school is done. It's just 50 minutes every Tuesday after school. Keaton always wants to play the IPad and watch television. This past month, in an attempt to get out of the house and do something fun we went bowling at a small nasty old bowling alley in Nixa. It was great. Nobody was there, it was cheap, and it smelled like ashtrays. Unfortunately, as we were finishing our game Keaton fell while walking up the handicap ramp and hit his chin on the bowling ball just the right place. His chin busted open and we rushed him to urgent care. He got three stitches. He was so brave! He cried at first but I think it was scarier for mommy then Keaton. The kids have been sick a lot this winter. In November/December the kids were sick for 5 weeks straight with fevers over 100. It was exhausting and frustrating. We started them on JuicePlus and that seems to have helped quite a bit. We ran out two weeks ago of their new vitamin and of course they ended up getting sick again. Grateful to have a new order in and hoping they will be free of their viruses soon. This back-to-back sickness caused us to increase McKenna's tube feeds back to previous amount 330 ml (quantity given for the past two years). McKenna was admitted to the hospital for a week in December due to constipation. It seems to be a guarantee that she will get backed up at least once a year. Thanks to Go-lightly and Enemas, they cleaned her out. The nurses were kind and rewarded her with toys for her bravery, including an American Doll, which Mommy has put away for future playing since they are so expensive and nice. A dozen of other things no doubt have helped 2013 to be an exciting and eventful year, but those were the main ones during the past few months. Cheers to 2014, and all we have to look forward to learning and doing.