Our Family...: Recent pictures...

We have been so busy! We have been in school for almost a month now... I can't believe that! We are very thankful that all of our kids have adjusted and we now have a good routine going. Timmy and Emma go to Melody's house, who they call ga-ga. They love her and when Rick drops them off in the morning, they run right in and go get their favorite toys. Melody is a sweet, loving lady who takes such good care of them. We are lucky! Matthew has adjusted much better to his new school. This time next year he will be in Kindergarten and going to school with mommy everyday. Andrew is my school boy, so starting back was no big deal for him. Andrew begins soccer next week, so we will have 10 weeks of a busy soccer schedule. Both Timmy and Emma are in speech, so we have to get home for that 2 days a week. I am stepping up as team leader for the third grade teachers and running a chess club at school.... so as you can see, we are BUSY! By Friday evenings, I want to collapse on the couch :)

Timmy has really come a long way in the last few months. We went through a stage that lasted about 6 months where he screamed constantly. It was exhausting!!!! He was always so grumpy. Looking back, it was probably his teeth because they all came in at the same time. Now, his speech is growing and he is actually TALKING and communicating with us and generally very happy. He loves to play and is starting to take a big interest in trucks (go figure). He is a really fun little boy who loves to play, play, play. He is always climbing and getting himself into the worst situations. As his father says, "he will end up on you-tube one day!"

Emma is still a sweet and laid back little girl. Her speech is coming along to, but her vocabulary hasn't grown much recently. The sounds that require you to put your tongue on the roof of your mouth (t and d) are hard for her because she has only had the roof of her mouth for a few months now. She makes a lot of sounds in the back of her throat. She is obsessed with babies right now and loves to rock them and feed her little dolls a bottle. Timmy loves to steal her doll and run as fast as his little legs will carry him... and then throw them over the baby gate. It happens at least 10 times a day. She does the same thing to him though. The other day Timmy was trying to play with his garbage truck, but Emma wouldn't let him have it. So, he went to get her doll and stood right in front of her making eye contact. Emma got upset, wanted her doll, so Timmy threw the doll at her and took his truck and ran. I was so impressed with his problem solving in that situation :)

There isn't much to update on Matthew... he is still a laid back, sweet little guy. There really isn't much to update on Andrew either. He is still stuttering and that gives us a little bit of worry. It started last April, so it has been about 5 months. Everything I read says that if it lasts longer than 6 months, it might be something that sticks around. It is normal for young children to stutter as their vocab increases and their little mouths can't keep up with their growing brains. Andrew was a late talker, so his stuttering stage came a little later. His speech therapist at school thinks it is because he is learning so much and his mouth can't keep up. When it first started, it was BAD. I cried and cried because it was difficult to see him struggle. It got better and then it would come and go. We are told that the pattern of stuttering he is showing is actually progressing... and he is moving in the right direction. At first, he stuttered the beginning sound... then it was the whole word... now he just draws out the words. Just recently he has started blinking when stuttering and showing signs of what they call a "block" where the word doesn't come out. Obviously, we don't want to see him struggle with talking. We know that socially this is way more destructive than other things. However, we also realize that there are parents with children who have deadly illnesses and diseases.... so if this is the worst thing we ever have to face with him, we should consider ourselves lucky. I am putting all my trust and faith in God to heal him from this. In the last 3 days, his stuttering has decreased dramatically... and I am very encouraged. Last weekend, however, it was so bad that I could hardly understand him and he couldn't get anything out. I hope these "good" days continue and that we will one day soon be rid of this! Many parents have told me that their children stuttered and that one day it was gone. Andrew's speech therapist has a son who stuttered like Andrew. She know exactly what I feel as a mother, but feels confident it will go away.

Finally, I have found a treatment that works for my Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed just over 10 years ago. I have only flared a few times and was always able to get it back in control with a dose of steroids. Since January of this year I have been getting progressively worse and by June I was so miserable that I turned back to steroids. In the scope of my stomach in June, it showed a great deal of damage. My doctor said that I have to find a maintenance drug to keep it under control or I will one day soon end up with surgery... a major gastric bypass surgery. The problem is that my type of Crohn's is so rare that there are no proven meds to keep it in remission. I just recently switched to a new specialist and he felt encouraged that remicade would do the trick. Every 8 weeks I get a 2 hour IV infusion of the drug. So far, I am feeling great. The side effects are a little scary... but I know it is a risk I need to take.

I know I am biased, but I think my daughter is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen.

I can't even begin to tell you how destructive my babies are. We have a lock on every door of our house. When I found my laundry all over the place, dirty and clean mixed together, I reached my breaking point!!!! I don't know if it is because I have two of them, or if they are just extra naughty... but I don't remember my older boys giving me this much trouble!