A Little Bit of Everything
So here it is 11:30 at night and I am still awake. Errr. Nick has been working nights and lets just say it has been a little difficult. I absolutely cannot sleep when he is not around. He's my big strong protector, and my snuggler. I feel so lonely when he is not around. So here I am awake and probably will be through the wee hours of the night. This too shall pass, right?
Anyway a lot has been going on around here and since I am up and bored I thought I might share it with you:
Emma
Emma starts soccer next week and has about two more weeks of Gymnastics. She LOVES gymnastics (which is a hard word for me to spell for some reason!). She is thin and petite and can do things on her own that even the 4-year olds can't do yet. I think we might have found something that she is going to stick with and be really good at. Every time she gets ready to do something she belts out towards the teacher "I can do this on my own!" its pretty hilarious.
Emma's behavior is like a bi-polar teenager who is off their meds. I swear, its crazy sometimes. I have been trying to give her lots of love and extra attention. It seems to be working and she has calmed down. I don't know what it is but the smallest things can set her off. When she is not being "set off" she is so helpful with Calvin and just an all around sweetheart.
She also has such an imagination! During quiet time this afternoon her and Baby Grace built a machine that would fill baskets with fruit so they don't have to do it themselves...apparently she's been a sweat shop worker up to this point, so thank the Lord for that machine!
School wise Emma has knocked our socks off. She is basically one of the smartest kids in her class. She knows her address, can write her name, and knows all of her upper and lower case letters. She is also spelling words to us and telling us out of the blue things like "Elephant starts with E" which upon asking the teachers they have NOT been teaching, she is just picking this stuff up on her own! *proud Mommy here*
Calvin
Well I have gotten to the point where I am not crying everyday about Calvin's Apraxia. Praise the Lord He has helped me through that storm. It really was a storm of self pity and blaming myself. A lot of friends and reading have helped me to see that nothing I could have done could have prevented this and God gave us this challenge for a reason.
Calvin is so incredibly happy, when I am having a crappy day his smile really changes my mood. We've had two therapists both comment that he is going to get through this okay because he is happy. He really does seem to have the joy of the Lord!
Therapy wise I can barely keep anything straight! We've had two evaluations with Occupational Therapists (dealing with how he moves his body) and they both found problems that need addressed. So we are working on an at-home therapy program being set up. They are thinking that his disawareness of how his body moves (imagine your whole body feeling like it fell asleep) may be what is also causing some of the apraxia. So we will see if speech improves as his physical movement improves. He also has been really, really hurting me. Just me for some reason. He especially likes to bite me and try to strangle me (yes I did say he has the joy of the Lord). The occupational therapist said he has a problem with knowing how hard he is doing things so he probably isn't even trying to kill me. :) Speech wise we still aren't getting there. We only have our therapist until he's 3 and then we are left to pay out of pocket $300.00/hour. We are starting a more aggressive approach (meaning we are paying out the ear for therapy tools to use) so hopefully that will work. Please keep us in your prayers as we monetarily do whatever is necessary to get this kid to talk). We are also facing the option that if he doesn't talk it is going to be best to homeschool him. I just don't feel ready or capable to do that but I know if that is what God wants us to do I will do it.
Calvin has learned his colors! And almost has opposites down. He's got in and out, up and down. He is really improving on his signs. He is TRYING to say things but if you babysat him you would have no idea what he is saying Aaagaaa is Lightyear for example.
Calvin is starting to potty train. Lately he has been telling me all of the time he has to go potty just to shoot right back up and demand M&M's...his reward for telling me he has to go. Fail.
Calvin's eczema has been SUPER bad the last couple of weeks. A few nights ago I was up all night with him while he was trying to scrape his skin off. Hopefully with new medication we will be on the mend but it has been a rough patch...ha, get it!
Calvin is in swim lessons (remember the choking he likes to do? 10x worse when we hit water...he HATES water! However the last two weeks we have not been because the chlorine aggravates his skin.
Nick
Nick works. Eats. Sleeps. and then works some more. Poor guy. I can't tell you how grateful we are to that man that he is providing so well for us. Just the fact that I would be able to stay home with the children is something I never, NEVER would have considered as a possibility 6 months ago.
Lindsay
I am home with the kids and am not getting NEARLY as much done around the house as I had hoped. I just keep thinking of that saying about how housework can wait because babies grow up far too quickly...
I am hoping to start taking more pictures of what we have been up to in the everyday. If it doesn't get recorded anywhere else, at least it will be in this blog, right?
I am freelance writing which I thought would just be something I would do here and there but I have had three stories assigned to me and I have been out of work for a month! I feel truly blessed for what God has done.
Typing that I have been out of work for a month just brought around the reality that I have been out of work for only a month...holy cow, how did that happen? It feels like it has been six months...who says staying at home is easy? ;)
I am really trying to read my body and let God guide all of our decisions. I have such a desire for a marriage and a family that is solely dependent on God. I feel so blessed for a Christian husband who is helping me every day to teach our children about the Love of Christ.
So...what have you been up to?