Still Here

McKenna is into "posing" for pictures.

My gracious life has gotten busy.

Between having 2 kids in 2 different schools and a baby who's ear drum ruptured this week, 2 kids in soccer, PTO volunteer stuff, a prayer group that's meeting at my house....my head has been spinning this week.

A typical night at our house. McKenna doing gymnastics. Christian playing catch with Ryan and Will milling around in the middle of it all.

By the way, it's okay for boys to push strollers around when they are using them to transport their trains. It cracks me up that this is what he puts in the stroller. He takes McKenna's babies out of it and puts his trains in there. Hilarious!

 Thankfully even though we are super busy, I feel like my life is overflowing with goodness.

I can look at this little boy and say "kiss" and he comes running over to give me a kiss.

Life doesn't get much better than that!

Ryan's started something new at work that been a big change for him. 

Since his commute is so long, he's now working 4 twelve hours shifts and taking Fridays off.

Having him home on Fridays is so nice, but working a 12 hour day means waking up at 3am and that's just about killing him. I'm not sure how long this is going to last.

Will has been popping out new words every day.
Here's his latest word. YES!

Penn State Game

Ryan took Christian to a Penn State football game today. It was Christian's first experience hanging out with 100,000 other people! Just visiting a stadium that size was an amazing experience for him. Penn State won so that was a bonus.

It was a great day for my boys!

You don't like recess??

Christian's favorite "subject" has always been recess. Most of the time I get a full report about lunch and recess and never hear a word about what actually happened in his classroom.

Well today I asked McKenna if she went out for recess at preschool. Here's her response:

"No. Thank goodness. I don't like recess at all. It makes me get sweating and it messes up my shoes."

So there you have it people... she doesn't like to get "sweating."

She also has some interesting thoughts about soccer. She told me that the reason she doesn't ever touch the ball during games is because she doesn't think it's nice to take it away from other people. She really just wishes everyone could take turns and everyone could make a goal and cheer for each other. I'm kinda thinking competitive sports might not be her thing.

Will: 18 Months

Will turned 18 months old a week ago and of course, being the 3rd child, I forgot all about it.

So here's an update on my favorite little man!

Will's favorite thing to do is push this little car around our yard.

He loves to be outside and screams and arches his back when we bring him in.

The other day Ryan told me he didn't feel like taking him outside because he knew how bad it was going to be to try to bring him back inside. It's the truth. Coming back inside is painful for everyone.

18 Month Stats:

Wears size 5 diapers

Weighs 27.9lbs (72%)
Length 33.5 inches (82%)
Head Circumference 19.5 (90%)

Wears size 24 month clothes (and a few 2T) 

Shoe size 6

Loves his blankie

A great napper

Will sometimes has a hard time sleeping through the night

Will loves books and reads them on his own sometimes

His favorite characters are Thomas, Elmo and Mickey

Very physically active: runs, jumps with 2 feet off the ground, can run and kick a ball, throws a ball to play catch, wrestles and tackles his siblings, loves to practice running down a hill or jumping off a step, is occasionally caught standing on a table.

 McKenna rarely uses Will's name...she just calls him "little buddy." 

I hear her say "Come on little buddy" a million times a day.

Language Development: This is not his strong point, but no wonder (see above) he's too busy conquering the world! Will says very, very few words independently. Mainly we hear; dada, PopPop, Chrish, hut (up), hello, choo choo, this (he says that as he points to random things). He can say a few more words when we have him repeat after us; ball, bubu (bottle), mama (very rarely...I still don't think he has it), truck, go, yes, catch, cracker, and one time he said "nen-na" for McKenna. Oh how she wants him to say her name. She works on it everyday with him. Will is a noisy guy. He is always making sounds for his cars and trains as he drives them around. He says lots of animal sounds too.

The finger update: A big shout out to Jesus for this one!!! His finger is basically healed at this point. As much as it's going to anyway. His finger nail looks messed up (sort of like it would look if you just smashed it in a door). The nail is still slowly growing, so I'm hoping at some point it's going to look a little more normal once the damaged part of the nail completely grows out. Overall, his finger looks completely normal. If you glanced at it you would never guess the trauma that finger has been through. If you put both of his pinkies next to each other you can tell a difference. His "boo boo finger" is shorter than his other pinkie and it's skinnier and is pointier and not as rounded as his normal finger. But there is basically a centimeter of finger there right now that was completely missing. A whole centimeter of his finger has literally grown back. I had three different doctors tell me that's what could happen and quite honestly I didn't really believe it. Our bodies are most certainly fearfully and wonderfully made!!! And Will is going to have a great story to tell of God's faithfulness as he grows up.

The negative part of this that we're still dealing with is the psychological trauma of the whole event. Will cannot stand any situation where you're restraining him. He absolutely panics and cries so hard he almost throws up. He really needs a haircut, so I took him to my friends salon a week ago and he was such a mess she couldn't even finish the haircut. His 18 month well visit was a nightmare. He started screaming the minute we walked in the exam room and they hadn't even touched him yet. He is simply afraid of a lot of situations now. Yesterday we were playing outside and he fell down and scraped up his knee and there was blood running down his leg. I went inside and got him a bandaid and when I said "let's put a bandaid on your boo boo" he freaked out and started telling me "no" while he was pointing to his finger. He associates bandaids and boo boo's with finger.

Hopefully all of this will just resolve itself with a little bit of time. I'm praying that the memory of all of it will fade, but it's tough because people ask about his finger and want to see his finger so it's like we're constantly reminding him about it when I make him show his finger to people. I really love showing off his little miracle finger (so if you're one of the many people who have asked to see it...don't feel bad for a second) but we're probably going to have to be a little more sensitive about it.

Dear Will,
You are so precious to me. You have the most delightful personality. You just go with the flow and keep smiling through all the drama your brother and sister create. I love getting you out of bed in the mornings because you are always so happy and ready for the day. You laugh and squeal and run all over this house. You might only be 18 months old but already I can see a little boy full of compassion for others. You are the first one there patting and hugging your sister when she cries. Whenever Christian gets in trouble you go to him and stick by his side even if that means sitting in time out with him. You cannot even imagine how full you make our hearts. I thank Jesus every day for creating you and giving you to our family. Your tiny little finger might be one of the most expensive fingers on earth, but you my sweet boy are priceless!!!!
Love,
Mommy

Psalm 92:4
"Oh Lord, I sing for joy at the work of your hands!"

Family!

 Yesterday, McKenna, Christian and I traveled to North East Maryland for a family reunion. I knew it would be a long day with a lot of driving, so we left Will at home with daddy.  It was such a treat to see my precious Aunt Grace.

 My sister Amy with our Aunt Betty.

 My mom with two of her sisters.

 Aunt Marion talking to Aunt Grace.

Sisters

 The weather was perfect and the playground nearby kept the kids entertained.

 McKenna did a good job of being friendly. I know she looks friendly but she pretty  much refuses to speak whenever someone talks to her that she doesn't know. So I prepped her and told her that I expected her to respond every time someone spoke to her and she did great!

 Christian totally surprised me and was quite comfortable with being hugged and kissed on by people he didn't know. In fact, we had a funny little conversation in the car. He wanted to know if when he grows up he could get a job helping old people do sports so they can get their bodies moving again. How cute is that? He was pretty disappointed when I told him that "old people" don't usually play soccer, they like to do things like dancing to stay in shape. Bummer...he's not interested in dancing, but I really think that elderly people have a special place in his heart.

 Uncle Rob was there with his fishing gear and he came through once again.

Christian now thinks that you always catch fish every time you go fishing. I explained to him that apparently Uncle Rob has magic lures because most people are not this successful.

That's a yellow perch.

 And a White Perch. See, Uncle Rob is so amazing he even knows the names of all these fish he helps Christian catch.

 A beautiful day on the North East River.

 Her favorite part of the day was seeing Mimi and climbing on the rocks.

 Christian loved being in real Ravens territory. Every time we stopped to go to the bathroom (which was a lot) we saw tons of purple

 After the family reunion I took the kids to our family cemetery. It's always good to have these teachable moments at times when there isn't a lot of emotion involved. I would much rather have them walk through a cemetery for the first time when we don't really need to be there. We walked around and looked at the names of their great grandparents and great great grandparents. We talked about proper edicate...how you don't climb on or walk on grave stones.

We talked about how when we die we get new bodies in Heaven so our broken bodies go in the ground. We saw a fresh grave and talked about what a funeral is like. It was a valuable experience for both of them.

Then we headed home and stopped so McKenna could go to the bathroom about 20 times. It was lovely. Thankfully we carry a potty right in the trunk with us because we know all too well how traveling with McKenna can be!

You win some, you lose some

 McKenna's team won today.

 Trust me when I tell you that she had absolutely nothing to do with their win.

 She did run (behind everyone else). She got sweaty and was a good listener.

 But she spent a lot of her time on the field hugging and holding hands with her friends.

 

 This was supposed to be her big kick....ummmm... at least she thought it was fun!

Next week we're bringing our game face!

 Christian on the other hand wore himself out trying to help his team win, but in the end they lost by a decent amount.

 Christian scored their only goal.

 He was a pretty good goalie (he just caught that one) but he prefers offense.

 It's going to be an interesting season for him. He's the only aggressive kid on his team and it seems like he's the only one who can predict where the ball is headed and get there before it. It's going to be frustrating for him to lose, but Ryan pointed out that it will be a good opportunity for him to learn to lead.

It took an army to keep track of this spectator. But he sure was cute, even if he is no longer content to hang out in his stroller.

A Preschool Post

 McKenna has been going to preschool for a few weeks now, but these pictures were taken on her first day.

 She was more than ready! Awake at 6am wanting to get dressed and get in the car.

 It was her idea to wear her "m" shirt because it would help her teacher remember her name.

That was her idea not mine. 

See what I mean... she's more than ready for this.

 They bring buckets to school because it's easier for preschoolers than having to zip and unzip backpacks. And it's easier for teachers to get things in and out of them.

 Daddy called her to encourage her on her first day.

 She was happy to see her best bud there.

 I think he would have stayed if I would have let him.

 He was right there in the mix of things.

 McKenna was very serious about her morning work.

 Once she got in the classroom I could not get her to smile.

 Sitting at her table.

 Class got started and Will and I headed out the door. 

I did not plan on crying because I felt confident that she was more than ready for this step, 

but when I called Ryan to tell him how it went I cried.

McKenna had a great first day.

She did accidentally sit on the wrong letter on the rug and a little girl told her see was mean for taking her letter. That was a little intimidating for McKenna but she handled it and wasn't upset when she told me about it. She's so different from Christian....she can just handle stuff like that better.

Now that she's been going to preschool for 2 weeks....she loves it!

She can't wait to go. She has all sorts of fun stories about what they did that day.

Honestly I wish it was just a bit longer because I think it would be good for her!