The highlights...
MOVING
Mid-April we were finally able to move out of the rental and back into our house! We were SO ready to get back home, but at the same time, it was oddly bittersweet. Saying goodbye to the rental was harder than we thought it would be. I guess it really had become home to us after six months of living and settling in. We boxed up what little we had at the rental and "mini-vanned" it down the road back home. Most of our belongings were delivered in a huge truck from Puroclean. We are still going through all of the boxes, trying to do a good deal of purging as we sort through all of the surprises in each one. It is amazing how easy it is to forget about stuff when you haven't seen it or used it in half of a year. We officially turned the rental house back over to the owners on April 30th. We sure were glad to do that - cleaning the house from top to bottom was exhausting! I definitely prefer to be in charge of one property at a time.
Easter Dinner with the Drapers back in our house!
MICAH
That kid is growing up so fast. I can't believe how tall he is. I can't believe how smart he is. I don't think he EVER stops talking (HA!) during the course of a day. I am so proud to be his mama. While letters and words have always been "his thing," he has spent a lot of time branching out into numbers and math as of late. He can remember any number, time or date that something did happen or is scheduled to happen. I would trust him to remember my whole day planner and not question him at all. He can do math that boggles my mind...especially for being his math and numbers challenged mother. While all of that is pretty cool, the coolest thing to me and his daddy, though, is the fact that he loves Jesus Christ. He is fascinated by reading the Bible and does it all the time. While I know this would not be exciting to everyone (possibly even to some reading this blog), this is extraordinarily exciting to Jake and I. He is saved and spiritually growing everyday. Is he perfect? Nope. Does he know what a sin is? Yep. And he knows that God forgives him of those sins because he believes Jesus, who was sinless, died on the cross to save all of us who believe. Awesome.
CADEN
The last few months with Caden have been challenging. He is still the sweet and precious boy that he has always been, but he has definitely been testing his boundaries with Jake and I. We have survived some gargantuan tantrums and major meltdowns. He went through three visits of play therapy with a child counsellor in town following the stress of the tornado. He is doing LOTS better now. He has even learned how to control his anger (most of the time), which is saying something for a 3 (almost 4) year old. We are working with him everyday and I think he is very happy to be back home. He does not miss the rental house at all, or so it seems. He recently got over Rotavirus. Not fun at all, but very mild in comparison to horror stories I have heard from other people. He ate virtually nothing for at least four days. BUT, he drank and drank and drank, which meant he stayed well hydrated and avoided going to the hospital. Thank God. We are glad to be done with that! He still loves all things cars and trains. He thinks we are in a race anytime we drive anywhere. Haha, and even though his backseat driving can be a little frustrating at times, he is super cute. He is incredibly descriptive when he talks... something I think he gets from Thomas the Train books and movies. I love him so much.
KARLYNN
This girl can talk! She has very little interest in physical progression at this point (although she can sit with little support and has just started rolling on her belly to sleep at night). She is a typical girl, I guess, and the majority of her energy is going towards communication. She signs and speaks pretty well for a gal that is only 8 months (today!).
Karlynn's Communicates in Context...
Hi (says the word and waves)
Bye (says the word and waves)
Nigh-Night (says the word and waves)
Milk (signs the word)
Dog/Doggie (says and signs the word)
Dada and DaDDEE (says the word and does her own version of the sign)
Mama (says the word)
Nana (says the word)... this is my mom, not a banana
All done (says and signs the word)
In addition to communicating, she also loves to drop objects and watch them fall. She still thinks her brothers are the greatest thing alive. If she isn't napping in her carseat, she is undoubtedly laughing at her brothers constant entertainment. And they laugh right along with her. She thinks toys are fabulous and is curious about everything she sees. Mama, Dada and brothers are totally wrapped. Love this spunky girl.
