I decided it was time to brave the Middle School kids. We went out for dinner and a movie. Boy, did it bring back memories to be in the 7th grade. We had a blast.
Chase has turned our gameroom table into "Town
of Littleville; where everyone is welcome". The kid
has a HUGE imagination.
A little blurred but Carson is the only dude in his
gymnastics class. His attention span is that of a nat but
he seems to do the tricks very well.
Julia waiting for her teacher to come spot. My little monkey.
How long can she hold herself in this
position?
Julia smoozing the teacher during stretch time.
This girl has no sense of danger. I keep waiting
for her to drop on her noggan.
This is Carson's version of a pike during stretch time. Carson is in his own little world.
I decided to play hooky from participating in my adult gymnastics class yesterday and watch the little ones take their class. I usually try to take a glance at them from across the gym while I take my class but it was nice to sit and just see how much they are learning in the little time they have been in class. Julia has come soooo far in trusting her teachers. I spent the first three weeks sitting with her in her class just so she would participate. Now, when they call them, she is the first one to run out there. They will be moving her up into the 3 year old class tomorrow and Carson will be remaining in the 2 year old class. We'll see if this will work. Carson will move up with her in June when he turns 3. They are together all the time and do very little without the other. I have a field trip with Chase tomorrow so Tim gets the honor of monitoring the gym class split up. Julia usually seems to go beyond her comfort zone when Tim is around versus me.
Today, we had our semi-annual dentist appointments - all four of them. This is not the first time Julia and Carson have had their teeth cleaned but you would not have known that when Julia refused to sit in their chair and open her mouth. It was not pretty. On the other hand, I couldn't keep Carson from jumping up saying "It's my turn. I'm next." He was more than anxious to jump up in the chair. We ended up just having flouride put on Julia's teeth and let the dentist count her teeth by holding her back kicking and screaming for a few seconds. We will try again on the next six month visit. She did decide to open her mouth from a distance for the orthodontist so he could take a peek. We know we will have a lot of ortho work with Julia but this should not start for a few more years. We just want to get past the mouth and nose surgery in November and give it time to heal. The ortho seems to think that her teeth will not be too terribly bad to straighten out. We do know that she is wearing down her two front teeth due to an overbite. She will probably lose those teeth before the customary time.
Update on my new career as a stay at home mom... Some days are easier than others. I am just so grateful that I have been able to stay at home for the past eight months. Julia has come such a long way with her adjustment process and I just know this has been due to the time we have been able to spend with her. I so stressed over the day that she would run with her arms open to Tim as he came in the door from work and it has finally arrived. For those dads out there that have adopted as we did and are not quite there with their bonding, it will come. Just hang in there and be patient. There were times I felt so sorry for Tim because Julia only wanted me and paid little attention to him when he obviously was so thrilled to see her. I know Julia has loved her Daddy but for some reason the physical affection and desire to actually want to sit in his lap when bed time nears and fall asleep came very slowly. Tim is now joking with me at times and lets me know that she is going to be Daddy's Girl and not mommy's.
My desire is that I get to stay at home for a total of two years with my babies. I miss having the outside career woman role with adult conversation but tear up every time I think about leaving the kids. This job is by far harder than any management job you could throw at me. I don't always see the rewards on a daily basis. Some days I feel like nothing was accomplished but then later during the evenings when the kids have calmed down I just look at them and all those "things" that didn't get accomplished seem so unimportant. There are times when you cannot speak because you know no one will hear due to the noise level or interjections. Conversation time for Tim and I takes place late at night and that's if we haven't fallen asleep before the kids due to exhaustion. My main hobby over the past few months has been potty training and I have to say it's a disgusting job. How do you tell someone on the phone, Sorry, I have to go now my son just dropped a big one on the floor beside me and is wearing some of it. That's while one is actually trying to use the big pot but forgot to put the ring in thus resulting in getting stuck in the commode. My favorite new hobby is duplicating my efforts on every task I achieve or thought I had achieved during the day... dress the babies (or assist), turn around and they have undressed themselves, redress the babies again...assist with socks and shoes, get ready to walk out the door, reassist with socks and shoes. Every day is an adventure but it's our adventure.
These kids are our four blessings and I love it. Julia never ceases to amaze me with her accomplishments. This is a very strong-minded child and just plain strong in itself. Having a girl has been a huge adjustment for me but when I get to the point where I feel overwhelmed by that, I just remind myself of the adjustment this little girl has had to make in her little time here on earth. I only wish I had half her courage and strength. The sermon was on the Sanctity of Life not too long ago at church. It was delivered so well but reminded me of Julia's mom and dad and was very saddening. It left Tim and I discussing the situation these two individuals had to face in making the decision to place their child in the hands of someone else. I know God watched over our daughter for us. You see, he knew she would be ours even though we had absolutely no clue of his plans. In a million years, you could never have told me I would have a third child and then go the length to adopt a fourth child. I know that God never gives us more than we can handle even though sometimes we think we have reached our brink. All I can say is if you are feeling that tug to adopt, pray about it, don't expect to do it on your own and I promise you will be blessed tremendously. You see, I've never stepped out in true faith before until this and for a very "in control all the time type of person" this was a huge step but one that was well worth it.
Sorry for the novel tonight but as you can see in my previous blogs it's been some time since it's actually been this quiet for me to actually have time to put down some geniune thoughts.
