"A perfectly normal boy"

I guess since Leo was born with a relatively severe "defect" (I think he's perfect, but he DOES need a plastic surgeon!), I've kind of worried that maybe there was something ELSE wrong with him. I mean if this could happen, why not something else? Stupid, I know. Plus there's absolutely no reason to believe anything else is wrong. And I really don't.

But it SURE is nice when I hear Leo's speech therapist rave about how he's a "perfectly normal boy." He's doing everything else normally. Hitting all his milestones. Imitating her with movement and speech. Today she called him her "poster child." He's amazing! He does everything she wants him to. He improves every week! She told me that she will write a report for his surgeon about his speech and eating. She said sometimes she gets to tell the surgeon that cleft palate babies are eating well. But, she said, Leo is a STAR. :)

So when I'm standing in the back of church holding twenty pounds of squirming chunk, I'm so grateful he's a "normal boy." When he crawls around the house putting every single little thing he finds on the floor into his mouth, even if I've just swept and vacuumed twice, I'm thankful he's a normal boy. When he screams whenever I walk out of the room he's in, say, to cook supper or go to the bathroom, that is normal for a 9 month old. And I thank God.

His surgery seems to be getting closer, although it's probably still 5-6 months away. We can get through it. He will be fine. He'll be better than fine!

And, have you ever seen a cuter baby??

I love my little Star!

Spooky Town

We visited my friend Valorie this week, who is one of the most creative people I know. She had made a big seasonal "sensory box" full of all kinds of fall goodies. She told me about the website she got the idea from, Pink and Green Mama. I could spend all day on that site!

So when we got home, the kids wanted to make their own "Spooky Town." First we went for a nature walk to collect all kinds of fun fall things, leaves, spiky balls, acorns, etc.
A quick trip to Michael's and we got the rest. It's basically a tray with beans, and all kinds of other seasonal little things for the kids to play with. We put spiders, a little pumpkin, a pirate and some treasure, some little guys, and all our nature stuff in there. We also got an unfinished wooden barn which the kids wanted to make into a spooky barn....

(Excuse Madeleine's hair, this was first thing in the morning the next day - they didn't even ask for milk, breakfast or a show!)

So I painted it with watercolors and drew some spooky details with a black marker.
And made a fence with sticks and a hot glue gun on the back.
Also I got the idea of making some little dolls to live in Spooky town (this came from Pink and Green mama). These were super easy and I already had all the materials, beads, yarn, pipe cleaners, and silk flowers. They both want some boy dolls... I'm gonna have to work on that!
I am just amazed at how much they've played with Spooky Town. I mean 5-6 hours a day. And they (most of the time) play nicely together with it! They bury everything in the beans then dig for the treasures, decorate the house, make up stories with the characters, and have a great time together. I'm planning on letting them play with this through October or November, maybe adding some things to it along the way, (saints for All Saints day, Thanksgiving stuff) and then making a Winter/Christmas sensory box. What a great idea!

Chunkalicious!

Got some 9 month pics taken yesterday. And this week he started sitting very well unassisted AND crawling everywhere! He figured it out and now he's everywhere. Today he crawled from the family room to the kitchen where I was cooking. Amazing.

She tried ;)

I cannot get enough of this sweet sweet boy! My first chunky one and the first one with hair before age 1!

We've decided

We don't want John Paul to ever grow up. We want him to keep saying things like
Can I sit right next by you?
Or
Can you read me One short quick book?
Or
Can I give Baby Leelo a hug?
Or
Mommy is it too cold for flip ops?

So, little Hancey, can you just stay "two yeas old" forever?

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Sitting

Leo might have been a little slow on the sitting. But he's got it down now! He figured out how to go from belly to sitting, and he's loving it! I think he's about half a day away from figuring out crawling too. My friend Karen from Green Mountain Diapers sent me this new Hoot cover. I love it! He might be on their site :)


I love the chunk!

Blast from the Past

This past weekend, my mom babysat the kids for 2 1/2 hours (thanks Mom!) and Ken and I were able to go out on a date. Our date of choice is a coffee shop and Barnes and Nobles (always has been.) Before we were married, and after we were married before kids, we spent so much time at Barnes and Nobles and Borders. We read magazines, drank coffee, had great conversation. I cherish those memories. We've continued our weekend tradition of hanging out at bookstores after the kids came along, but it's not the same. We bring books, toys, coloring books, the laptop with dvds or netflix, food and drinks, basically anything that will keep them entertained and quiet for a little while. We're regular fixtures and everyone knows us (not sure if they LIKE us.... that's another story ;) With 3 demanding kids, we don't really get to READ much. We sometimes try to get through the paper or some magazines, but it's between taking little people to the bathroom, handing out snacks and drinks, getting out toys, answering questions, telling a certain middle child to keep his voice down, etc. This weekend, Ken and I got to get out of the car without also getting out three kids, a stroller, a laptop, and the rest of their paraphernalia. We just got out of the car, linked arms, and walked in. Amazing :) We got drinks and books and magazines, there was adult conversation without interruptions, and a great time was had by all. It reminded me of when we were dating.

Before I had kids, I was always wishing we had kids. Having kids is even more wonderful than I imagined, but it's different. Our lives are not our own. We don't get to read, watch what we want on tv, go to the bathroom, sleep etc whenever we please. I wish I would have known then what I know now. I wouldn't have worried so much. I would have enjoyed our time with just the two of us more. God had a wonderful plan all along! I did realize that toward the end of our IF journey, and my life was much better after that realization, or gift of grace, whatever it was. I guess IF taught me that God has a better plan than I could ever imagine. But sometimes He says, "You need to wait."

I've learned that I can't worry about tomorrow. I can't worry how Leo will do with his surgery, when he'll learn to eat and talk normally, etc. I can't worry if I get pregnant again, whether that baby will have a cleft palate, whether my next child will be able to nurse, or anything else. Whatever happens, God will take care of us. We can get through it.

Right now we have 3 young kids. It's just a season. It goes fast and I don't wish any of it away. The first 4 years of our marriage are kind of a blur, except this weekend when I was remembering some great times we had. Now I never wish any time away that I have with my husband and kids. Each day is so precious. I had to wait a long time for them, and they were worth every second of it. I wish I had enjoyed the wait more. But now I do enjoy the present moment, and I'm so grateful for that.

Leo is 9 months!

Miracle of miracles! A picture of the three of them smiling and looking at the camera!!!

My humongous baby weighs 19.6 lbs, is 28 inches, and is wearing 12 month clothes! He is bigger now than Madeleine was at 16 months.
I feel like he's about 2 days away from crawling. Today I found him sitting up in the middle of the room, he got there from his tummy. He also pulled up on his feet - on me laying in bed with him. He does "baby yoga" all the time, his favorites are the plank position and downward facing dog. No matter where he is in the room, he always ends up wedged under the couch. It's a running joke between Ken and the kids - we could take him in the front yard (grandma's house, bookstore, etc) and somehow he'd end up stuck under the couch! I have to pull him out all day long. If I'm pumping Madeleine pulls him out for me. She can only move the chunk a few feet but it's better than nothing!

We met with his speech therapist/ feeding specialist today for the first time. She was great! She was thrilled I was still pumping and even said we could try to teach him to breastfeed after surgery. She gave me some great tips on feeding him, how to feed him baby food on the spoon so his lips close over it (she said that would help him say "b" and "p" sounds) and also how to put more textured foods directly on his gums so he'll be learn how to mash them with his gums. Very interesting and informative. She also goes to our church and has done this for over 20 years, and took us even though she had a full case load! I'm really looking forward to working with her.

He probably won't be able to eat cake at his first birthday party, so I'm getting some ideas. Right now I think I'll put a bowl of chocolate avocado pudding on his tray and let him have at it ;) Who has the best recipe?

Oh, and if you haven't tried chocolate avocado pudding.... it is SO GOOD!!!!

Scenes from the first two weeks of school

Madeleine and I started preschool a few weeks ago. It's been better than I ever imagined. We do it in the morning during Leo's nap and John Paul has been great. He either plays quietly near us or he participates. Every day we have a bible verse, a poem, several stories, a nursery rhyme, a finger play, a song, an art project, and at least one learning game. Every week is a different theme. The first week was "I belong to God," then "Alphabet Fun," and this week is "My 5 Senses."

This was our very first day. Our first bible verse was "I have called you by name, you are precious in my sight and I love you." We were talking about this, and I told her that she was more precious to God than all the treasure in the world. She got huge eyes and said, "I AM?" Then she got a big smile on her face. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

Them, fingerpainting. Me, getting over my dislike of messy crafts.

Spelling their names with Alphabits! (John Paul was all over this activity. Eating his name, anyway.)

Reading a book to Grandma and Babci.

Alphabet puzzle.

Writing letters in pudding.

One afternoon we were looking for a picnic spot, and we found this amazing playground in the middle of the woods! It was perfect, and shady and cool back there. And there were plenty of bugs to be founds (Madeleine loves bugs.)

Practicing letter writing. We supplemented a few activities for Alphabet Fun week, since she knows the alphabet already as you could see from the last video ;)

Fishing for letters that spelled "Madeleine"

New dress I made her.

We have had such a great time. I absolutely love Little Saints! We had our first co-op Saint party today and it was great! The kids were fabulous, the moms were great (and there were no long denim jumpers in sight!) Within 3 minutes of us arriving, Madeleine was sitting in an older girl's lap, and John Paul was acting like he owned the place. We learned about St. Kateri and did some crafts. Then the older kids organized some games (duck, duck, goose, etc) with the younger kids. I'm pretty sure that was M's favorite part. We have a trip to the apple orchard in two weeks! Madeleine is the best student ever. She wants to do school every day, sits and listens to everything I say, participates in everything and is sad when it's over!

Madeleine reading to John Paul

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