Winter 2010/2011

What have we done this winter? Anything fun? My answer to that would be the same things we always do. You know...the children's museum, preschool at home, speech therapy, church, BSF, and Grandma Moon's house. We havent gone anywhere especially special or done anything of that sort, but we have had a great time being together. I will say this winter I have been more content than in past winters. It may be because it is simply too much work to go anywhere therefore I have no desire to leave the house. So having nothing to do doesnt bother me all that much. After Bekah's recent scare I pretty much locked the kids up! I only took them to church, which is 3 times a week. The girls actually got to go to the grocery store for the first time since before Dec 17, 2010. They were so excited!! They were mad it was only for a few items and not a full trip. See if you dont do anything, they will love the simple things. haha. We also decided to quit story time at our local library bc of the green noses that always seem to attend such a wonderful FREE event! We will join back in the summer program but not before then! For filling the girls sticker charts we did take them to Incredible Pizza Company one day last month. They did love that! We of course tried to enjoy the large amounts of snow this year. But once again that was a lot of work to get 3 kids bundled up so Scott had to be home in order to enjoy this activity. Caleb was quite inthralled by the white stuff, Ryan would play too long everytime coming in crying from frozen fingers, and Bekah never seemed to enjoy the sledding but loved playing on the playgrounds. Scott kept busy at work with a room addition that just recently ended. Now he is taking one day at a time rejoicing even when someone calls about an ice damn on their roof! This is always a slow time of year, but God has never left us without so we will trust and rejoice until it picks back up usually in April or May. I have spent a lot of time baking and cooking since no one wants to play with me anymore. I was also blessed with a new mixer that is AMAZING! Not such a bad thing to have extra goodies around. Ive spent more time in God's word than I have since having kids and that has been more rewarding than I could ever explain! I have been sleeping all night for the first time in 16 months! Man does it feel amazing! I actually have been staying up until 11pm bc if I go to bed at 10 anymore I dont sleep well. I never thought I wouldnt be fighting the urge to nap anymore. Although this winter I have spent many hours picking up toys (so that I can sleep at night), breaking up sibling fights, and eating much more sugar than I usually allow myself I can honestly say it has been GOOD!! The kids have been healthier this year than last or perhaps our perspective has changed bc Caleb has had 4 sinus infections since Halloween, surgery, and 2 weeks of diahrea. Bekah besides last month only one sinus infection, one ear infection, 2 stubborn coughs with those, and one month of diarrhea. Ryan has only had 2 maybe 3 colds that barely bothered her and required no antibiotics. Scott and I havent been since since Thanksgiving. After typing that I think maybe our perspective has changed. After Bekah's recent scare I will tell you that Caleb soon got one of his sinus infections and we were so excited that it was something so simple. Whereas before we wouldve been frustrated to have yet another cold invade our home. Instead we thought hey what is a little green snot caked on my little guy's nose with some night time crying!! So as you can see we have had a great winter! I will not lie though. Im anxiously waiting for spring and feel like it may never come! I cant wait to take the kids somewhere with only a jacket!! But until then we will continue to make memories doing the same things we always do. Man I love my job!!

Bekah's health.

Wanted to update on Bekah's recent health scare. She continued to have pain and low fevers all through January and into February. After consulting her rhuematologist he suggested further testing which we didnt want to do. However, we decided after the doctor convinced us to go ahead. After a rough blood draw and chest xray Bekah was glad once it was over and so was I! It was so hard to put her through again with the fear that they would learn nothing once again from her tests. But we were so thankful when they called us to tell us that her blood work looked great and definitely better than it had the month previously. This meant that her body was getting better which shouldnt happen with rheumatoid arthritis. Of course a post viral infection shouldnt have lasted this long either. So our course of action at this point is to see what happens. If she still has persistent pain by march we see the dr again and see what he can come up with. But Im happy to report that she has had no pains in one full week! This is a record so we are praying we have gotten through this and we will never relive it again with our Beks! But we do know that it could flare back up if it is a rare case of rheumatoid arthritis. Until then we are going to put it behind us and move on! Praise the Lord!

My Tribute to Bekah!

Wow what do I say about a little girl who knows how to drive her mommy CRAZY and SOFTEN her heart within moments of each other! To enrole Bekah into speech thereapy a few weeks ago they asked me what I enjoyed most about Bekah and to my surprise I said her bounciness (if that is a word). When I think over a day with Bekah it seems that her bounciness is what drives me to many breaking points with her. Ironic! I guess it is the smile, the joy in her, the laughter, and the joy she brings others through her bounciness that I love. You cannot spend time with Bekah without smiling or even laughing or sitting still for that matter. Sitting still is not how she enjoys doing anything. While reading books she is standing on her head, spinning on her head, kicking her legs, or even bouncing. Why does she even ask to read a book? I dont get it. But I tell myself that she is listening in her own way (haha!). Now I will say that she does like to do worksheets (for the most part) for school at this point but I figure that will soon change as she realizes it is work! I dont think she actually learns anything doing them, however hands on activities are definitely productive in her learning. She loves to play games and puzzles. But dont worry she goes from one to another very quickly! I am determined that she will one day recognize all of her letters! She does recognize all of her numbers 0-12 and can count to at least 30. She learned numbers very early where Ryan learned letters very early. Maybe that just means Bekah will do more with numbers. So anyway, right now Bekah is working very hard these days to learn her letters while I work really hard to be patient! She has started giving up her naps only taking 2-3 a week. If I lay with her for 10 min she would take a nap everyday but then she doesnt go to sleep at night until 10-11pm! So we quit doing that and only have her sleep if she falls asleep on her own within 30 min of resting in her bed. So far that is working pretty well although on days with no nap she is pretty tired by dinner, but that means easy to sleep at bedtime of 8pm! One of Bekah's "great" qualities is that she never quits! Scott and I joke that she will be a great saleswoman someday. She will ask us the same question over and over if she wants something. When we say no it never dampens her spirit. I actually think it lights her up and she just asks a different way. If Ryan will not play the way she wants she simply says, "ok" and restates it another way. This sometimes goes on until Ryan explodes with frustration as Bekah has a nice smile on her face waiting. It is quite humorous thinking about it but I must say she has brought me to explosion many times as well! But I love this quality as well because she is not afraid to try new things and do them on her own. She is very independent at times. She loves doing something herself which explains potty trained at 2nd bday on her own! Or dressing herself most mornings!! Jumping off the top of the couch as far as she can! Doing summersaults (which Ryan still cant do)! Bekah loves to take care of her "yellow baby." She goes everywhere with her and she kisses her constantly. I counted over 100 kisses one night as I layed with her at bedtime. I always know when she is nervous or scared bc the kisses begin much more intensly. She will ONLY play church, house, or Doctor. She must always be the teacher, Mommy, or the doctor. She always states the scenario and rules. If someone is hurt or sad she will always be there with hugs and kisses. She loves her big sister Ryan more than anyone else in the world! Daddy and Grandma Moon 2nd and Mommy 3rd! That is okay bc I know that Daddys always rule at the age of 2 and 3. Ill move up soon enough! She would do anything to help her little brother Caleb whom she calls "little boy." Actually this girl has a servants heart! If we ask her to do anything she will jump right to it with a huge smile. She cannot wait to play soccer this spring bc she loves to run. She will start speech therapy soon for articulation just as Ryan did this last year. Her favorite color is pink. Favorite food is beans and rice. Her favorite question is "can I have a treat!" She would eat sugar over anything else all day long if I would let her. Her favorite activity is the museum or chinese (bc of the ice cream). She loves to throw tantrums these days and does it quite well at the same time everyday. I think her and I would both agree that the best time of the day is when I lay in her bed 10-15 minutes at night talking, praying, and focusing to keep her eyes closed. I honestly feel like it is the only time I can get the girl to sit still and I get so many hugs, kisses, and what is running through that girl's mind! She has the softest little heart that I have to be so careful not to hurt. Although Bekah would rather bounce while she walks and I would rather drag my feet she is truly a blessing from God! She is so special and I love her very much and even more because she is different from me! I have learned so much from these short 3 years together!