iPhone Pictures

This week we wrapped up our Parent Chat Nights with all of the boy's teachers.  Yes, each one has been on a different night which is good...the problem is they have all been on the same nights as our 3 flag football practices.  Let me just say that the term "divide and conquer" doesn't begin to describe how creative we have had to be this week. 

I took this picture of one of Grey's journal entries during 1st grade open house...

OK, not like private journal more like his writer's workshop journal at school.  It's so sweet.  I love how he wrote that he loves her to "bef"(death) and how proud he is that "she gos to school with me."  He also wrote about flag football and that he is the best.  Glad to see he doesn't have a problem with his self esteem, ha ha.

Sophie Kate after losing her first tooth...

Love this one of my smiley girl one day after church...

I saved the best for last because this one cracks me up.  I don't even know what song was playing but Grey walked right over to her and stuck that ear bud in her ear.  I love that he always thinks of her.

Therapy is going well and SK is loving her stander at home. Flag Football games start this weekend so sister will be out and about to all her brother's games.  We are loving the hint of fall in the air and our football Saturdays.  

Not a baby anymore

Sophie Kate continues to be on a roll of "firsts."  Her first laugh last Tuesday was followed by losing her first tooth on Wednesday (Sept. 5).  It happened as I was getting her into her wheelchair to go into school.  Knowing since her last dentist appointment that she had a couple of loose teeth, my fear was that it would come loose in her mouth and that she might aspirate it.  When it came loose it slipped under her tongue, but luckily I was able to fish it out.  The tooth she lost was on the bottom and right in the middle and the two teeth on either side of the one she lost are loose as well.  She may have quite a gap of missing teeth if all those decide to come out at the same time.  SK is inching closer and closer to her 5th birthday and losing teeth is just another sign that I don't have a baby anymore.

I have mentioned before how important it is for SK to bear weight on her feet.  The way she does that is in a stander. The school has one she uses there and they are very generous to let us use it over the summer.  We have tried to get insurance to pay for one for home use, but they don't see it as medically necessary.  They don't mind paying for surgery after surgery to correct all the problems she may have but refuse to pay for something that could keep all of that from happening in the first place...makes perfect sense, doesn't it...don't get me started!

Children's Rehabilitation Services (CRS) has come through with a stander for us and they delivered it on Friday. SK has been in it every day since.  She loves being upright and being on eye level us and her brothers.  How do I know? Because she has the sweetest grin on her face and even turns her head from side to side to look around.

I mentioned hope in the last post and how scary that can be just when you start getting comfortable with the way things are.  After seeing his sister in her new stander, Grey commented, "I can't wait until she can stand on her own, you know without that."  He really thinks she might do that one day...he hasn't lost hope.  I pray nothing in life ever comes down so hard on him as to cause him to lose hope. What happened in my pessimistic "grownup" mind that I lost hope?  It's a fine line we walk...reality, hope and doing everything we possibly can to give her every opportunity for a full, healthy life.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

When She Smiles

When she smiles, everything else seems to fade away. She has a way of pulling you in with just a smile.  Even though she has never spoken a word she speaks volumes to me with just a smile.  Sometimes it's a smirk, sometimes it's a kind of half smile and then sometimes it's so big and so wide that it's not possible for it to get any bigger...because if it did it would not be able to contain itself and would spill over into full blown laughter...and that's exactly what happened Tuesday afternoon.  Sophie Kate laughed out loud for the first time in her life!

It was just the two of us and I was preparing to move her from her recliner to the sofa so that I could give her water and meds.  I warned her that my hands were cold and then proceeded to pick her up.  Well, my cold hands and the tickle under her arms caused that huge smile to break out across her face and then the laugh that could not be contained.  Her first laugh.  I asked her "Was that a laugh, did you just laugh?"

Chad walked in about 10 minutes later and tickled her under her arms and she did it again for him too...we both heard it.  I tell you what that little girl had to be sore under her arms the next day because we tickled her like crazy the rest of the evening just trying to hear that laugh one more time...but we did get to hear it once.

I don't remember when the boys' smile turned into their first laugh.  That first baby belly laugh, you know what I am talking about, it's so cute, but I don't remember when they did it for the first time.  I took it for granted.  They were going to do it.  I knew they were, just like they were going to sit up, crawl, talk and walk...I took it all for granted.

I keep running those moments over and over in my mind. Her laugh, what it sounded like, what it looked like, how I felt just in case I don't get to hear it again for a while.  I never want to forget it.  Hope creeps in again, it can be a scary thing.  Just when you convince yourself that your OK with the way things are, then something like this happens and you dare to hope again.  It's scary and exhilarating at the same time.  

Upon hearing about SK's laugh, one of Sophie Kate's nurses sent me a message that said "I pray that you are blessed everyday with your children's laughter."  What a wonderful thing...simple, beautiful and music to a mother's ears.  I have waited over 4 years for this...I did not take it for granted this time.

Psalm 68:19 "May the Lord be praised! Day after day he bears our burdens..." 

First Avenue Rocks

We decided to stay here over our three day weekend and enjoy things close to home .  We had a great long weekend with friends, football and a little something extra.

We took everyone to First Avenue Rocks in downtown Birmingham, it's an indoor rock climbing facility.  It was a first for us but definitely won't be the last.

In the beginning, Grey couldn't get more than a couple of feet off the ground before falling back on the thick foam mats that surrounded the climbing areas.

However, it didn't take long for him to find his way to the top and just look at that smile once he made it!

 Cooper and Jacob were all over the place, climbing up any and all surfaces.

We broke for lunch and then these boys, blisters and all came back for round two, ding ding!

All smiles at the top...

 Getting chalked up before the climb...

Ahh, success...

As you can see from the pictures sometimes the boys had on a harness and sometimes they didn't.  There was only one wall where a harness was required and once they got to the top they would let go and repel down, or in Grey's case he would get 2-3 feet off the ground and then "repel" down to the mats, ha ha.  Grey actually did better without the harness, he was able to climb up and back down all by himself, he did great!  Jacob probably did the best job of getting up any type of wall there, but I can assure you that even though they all came home sore, hurting and with blisters aplenty...they were ready to go back at again the next day.  Sweaty and all they had a ball!

Sister was with us all day and in her classic style had a smile on her face the whole time.  She was sporting her new AFO's and a pair of her new shoes.

Our teams won and the SEC did well.  We spent time with friends and spent time at home with just each other.  It didn't hurt my feelings that our Labor Day started out dark and rainy either cause that gave us all and good excuse to be lazy, stay in our pjs and do pretty much nothing all day...a pretty perfect Labor Day in my opinion.

This Week

It's been quite a week around here.  In addition to the regular-ness of school, we have added in flag football practices for all three boys.  I guess we didn't feel that challenged us enough so we also added in a hearing aid for Jacob and an over 4 hour OT/PT appointment for SK.

Jacob has done so well with his hearing aid.  He is putting it in and taking it out himself.  He is storing it properly each night, he knows how to change the batteries and is taking proper care of it at school as well.  It has been an extremely smooth transition so far.  He had the biggest smile on his face all morning long after he first got it.  He said he is hearing better in his right ear now than in his left ear.  I guess his left ear is his "bad ear" now.  No more whispering around Jacob anymore.  He is still working up to wearing it all day, because it does make his ear sore after 2-3 hours of having it in right now, but he is doing great with it!

Sophie Kate's OT/PT appointment went well too.  I really like these two new therapists we are starting to work with. We received her AFOs (ankle/foot orthotics) on Tuesday and then they made splints for her wrists and elbows that she will wear at night while she is sleeping.  Whenever Sassy gets new AFOs she also has to get new shoes to fit them.  Well, there is no doubt that SK has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.  She ended up with not just one new pair of shoes but three, including a pair of gray boots that are going to be just darling for fall. Daddy cannot say no to his girl, ha ha.

Lastly, I wanted to share more pictures from Sophie Kate's class at school this week.  Her teacher sent me these with the caption of "Look who came to eat lunch with us!"

Yes, Grey got to eat lunch with SK on Monday.  He has a wonderful first grade teacher who is extremely supportive of him getting some "sister time" at school.  Grey's teacher and SK's teacher have worked out a plan to let him have lunch with Sophie Kate every Monday.  I know I talk about our school system all the time, but they truly are so good to our kids.  This means more to me than they will ever know.  

Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in love.  Honor one another above yourselves."

Grey and Sophie Kate

I feel like I am always sharing a Grey and Sophie Kate story on here, but it seems that he is always thinking of her and looking out for her, it's the sweetest thing.  At church one Sunday he was asked to draw a picture of something that makes him happy.  He drew a picture of me pushing SK in her wheelchair.  His teachers thought it was him pushing her but he quickly informed them that he wouldn't draw himself in pink (ha ha).  He always draws SK in her wheelchair, it's all he has ever known.

This isn't the actual picture he drew that day at church but I have lots of these around the house.  There is one in SK's room by her bed and one in my room as well.  This is how he always draws me and SK, in pink and purple (girl colors according to Grey).  Clearly there is not a lot of detail but as you can see, SK is sitting in her chair and there are two wheels at the bottom...i.e. a wheelchair.

Grey is totally into swords, ninjas, etc.  If sword fighting was an Olympic event, Grey would be all over it...I guess fencing would be his next best option.  He loves his Nerf swords.  He told/showed me one day what he would do if a robber ever came into our house and let me just say that robber would be real sorry if he ever came through our door.  Grey went a step further though and said they better come in to his room because if they go in Sophie's room they will be in big trouble and proceeded to show me how he would mess them up but good for going anywhere near his sister.  

Grey is totally pumped about school this week, because his teacher has told him that he can go to his sister's preschool room and read a book to the entire class.  I love it!  He's thrilled and SK will be so happy to see her brother at school.  

No words needed!

One week down

We are one week into school and every one is still happy...happy with their teachers and happy with their friends.  Sophie Kate goes to her preschool class three days a week.  She has enjoyed seeing her teachers and friends again.  She is exhausted and has been going to bed around 8:00pm each night, but she is having so much fun at school.  

Take a look at these pictures her teacher sent me from SK's first day of school and you'll see what I mean...

To see her enjoying school makes me so happy.  It makes dropping her off and leaving her so much easier when I know she is cared for and engaged like this.  

Cooper is doing percussion in the middle school beginning band and he brought all his stuff home the other day.  I am learning that there are lots of different things in the world of percussion...it's not just drums anymore.  

He has this xylophone looking thing with three different sets of mallets for it and then he has a drum pad with two different sets of drumsticks along with all the stuff he uses that stays at school.  It's a lot to keep up with for a guy that's not to much in the details, guess he will have to step up to the plate.

Cooper had to know when he brought his instrument home that the brothers would want to get their hands on it too. He was really good about it.

Our house was filled with lots of music and rhythm, SK loved it.

Next week is going to be a big week for us, Jacob gets his hearing aid and SK meets with her new PT and OT and gets her new AFO's and gets fitted for elbow splints.  It seems the fun and excitement never ends around here.

Thanks for checking in on us.