2015 (I'll work on catchier titles)

Still bummed I can't figure out how to add to my other blog, and haven't been able to since telling you all about Harlow being born. Maybe it's set to come up on the tablet (pretty sure that's where I last wrote about anything at).  So, 18+ months and I'm not any smarter at all. Anyway, I kinda miss is and I liked it.  So I'm gonna try to do better this year with it.  I'm pretty sure only about 5ish people or so read it anyway.  The main reason I started writing one was because when we were going to so many appointments with Faith over 5 years ago now, I'd forget to e-mail an important person that wanted to know what was going on, so I just figured having one place where I kept those up to date on stuff would help them stay as informed as they wanted to be, and I wouldn't have to feel bad about forgetting to e-mail people.  Then I discovered I really quite enjoyed telling (writing) about the silly antics of this household and of the milestones we were all hitting (or not hitting). So.....here we are.

2015  was a pretty good year.  I got to see Pentatonix and Norha Jones in concert (loved both of them, but I'm a massive a ccapella fan).  Got to see my first ever comedian live at the Tulsa Comedy Club (one of Tommy's friends had made it there, he was hilarious...I liked him WAY better than the "head liner").  My parents held a pretty cool little birthday celebration for me turning 37, and I was so thankful for it, for them.  I'm glad they're around to just be here with us (and they choose to do so).  Checked out Crystal Bridges, we weren't all that impressed with the art galleries, but did very much enjoy the nature trails.  I think we will check that out again and just go on those.  Tommy left his job at the Title Closing place, and went back to the warehouse.  He seems happier there, and much less stressed out.  I think the Title Closing place

humbled him a little (whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you ask, I suppose).

Angelus made it to 6th grade somehow.  ;)  Nah, he's a bright kid.  The only way he won't make it to another grade is if he quits (and I'd pull his ears for that....okay probably wouldn't do that).  He hung out with friends more, learned more, grew more (but not nearly enough according to him). Tommy and him are playing tons of board games together this year, and have tried another round to table top role playing games. It's good for him.  Makes him show us his face even more often. :)

We did a Color Run with the school...(we may have walked more than ran)

Faith put on 8pounds.  That's pretty impressive.  She now comes to about my chin.  She may out grow her momma before I thought she would.  She is loving school this year, she has great teachers, therapists, aides and school people she's working with.  So there is that. We had more luck with potty training this year than any other time.  Although if I'm being totally realistic, I don't think she'll ever be completely potty trained, but I *do* think we can have a set schedule for when it's time for her to go and she can learn that.  For instance, when school is going on she will go to the bathroom at exactly 3:48.  If I take her in there before that time nothing happens, if it's after that time, it's too late. I just gotta figure out all the other times.

He is sitting in Faith's seat at school.  He's ready for this learning stuff.

Harlow is doing more stuff.  Last night Angelus started singing "Bad Boys" so then Harlow did.  Pretty stinking cute.  Today Tommy and I were saying "Thunder Up!"  He was too. He will give you a "high 5" and a "fist bump" (he even says "fist bump"), a hug and a kiss and he knows the difference between all of those when you ask him.  His favorite snack is string cheese and he loves steamed veggies especially broccoli

Our extended family seems to be doing okay, some a lot better than they were last year.  My oldest little sister and her family got to buy a house.  It is awesome, and huge. My big brother is out and about where we may see his face when we're running around.  My other sisters seem to be doing good as well.  The youngest is supposed to graduate in May and the other one got promoted to be an assistant manager at her job that she seems to love.  Mom and Dad have been sicker and have been healthier.  I say this 'cause my momma sounded awful when I talked to her a little earlier.  It's one of those things where she needs to sleep and drink fluids kidna thing.  Dad is still going to work, stacking some wood, and checking on the cows but needs a few more naps than what he used to need.....or maybe he's just taking more naps and he always needed them.  Anyway, I hope your 2015 was kind to you (or at least not too bad to you).

That's How it Goes

I've dropped a couple of pounds recently.  Nothing *too* earth shattering, just enough that a few people noticed it, but most haven't. One of the people who noticed asked me what my secret was....I told her I was just limiting my intake of carbs at dinner time, and that was pretty much it.  Then I got to thinking more about it, and while I've consciously been doing this, there are other things that probably factor in as well. Like working hard at getting a good routine set up for evening/night time. Fixing dinner for everyone to sit down and eat together AND generally actually fixing a meal, not just tossing stuff in a microwave. Getting better/more sleep. I also do tons of squats, but Ive been working on those for a VERY long time. Harlow is 14months old, and I guess with each kid it's all different. I'd been exercising and not having a horrible diet since he was pretty much born. Maybe it's just one of those things where my body is finally saying, "hey! You're healed from birth and surgery enough that I'll start letting you see some benefit to what you've been doing?" Whatever the case, I'm just glad my pant sizes aren't continueing to go up. We were getting to numbers that made me nervous (for health and vanity reasons, honestly).  I've also been discovering more and more lately that I'm fairly sure no one really wants to hear what I have to say.  They really just want me to listen. I used to be really good at that. It's a work in progress. I will get better at it (hopefully sooner than later).

3rd grade seems to be good for Faith.  Her new aide is wonderful. She just seems to enjoy Faith, enjoy being there, and has a fantastic attitude. Faith is always glad to greet her in the mornings. She's went to the bathroom in the correct place at least once a day for the past 11 days, and for the past 4 of those 11 even more than once.  This is the most successful attempt we've ever had at potty training her.  It's an incredibly slow process, but we are getting there.

Angelus seems to like being a 6th grader just fine. He did say the swiping of classes has him more than a little confused, but we're pretty sure even the teachers are confused about it all still. The newest teacher he has this year was telling them all about ladies having to wear corsets and heavy dresses long ago. This prompted him to tell me to never wear one because he didn't want me yo die. I appreciate that and don't want to die, but I did also tell him that that's something you kinda train your body for. Which I have not, so we're good. I won't be wearing one anytime soon.

That's all for now.

A Little about the Little Ones

School is going again. I wouldn't say "in full swing" because it seems as if there's a few kinks they need to get lined out (and I hope they are able to especially for the sake of some teachers/administrators stress levels). Angelus seems to be enjoying 6th grade so far. I loved 6th grade when I was a kid (aside from my teacher, only teacher I had that I did not care for even a little). Fifth grade was terrible. Seems as if Sixth grade I found some amazing friends to enjoy being a kid/teen for the next several years. I think Angelus found those a few years before now. The kids he's friends with are some great kids.

Faith seems to be *trying* to say things AND I'm not the only one who thinks this. She does talk REALLY soft and with a whisper kind of noise. I've learned that if I ask 'yes' 'no' questions, then count to ten she sometimes responds. I know ten seconds doesn't sound like long, but when you're used to people giving an immediate response its kind of something you need to condition yourself to do. At least I do.  I hear her say "hi!" More often, Friday she was jumping up and down on the love seat (I know. I shouldn't let my kid do that) saying "this is fun!" Then she went to jump on her trampoline and was saying "this is high!". This morning I said Good Morning, Faith! (Which I say most mornings to the kids), she responded back 'morning'. Like I said it's fairly quiet sounding with a whisper/airy type sound to it so you have to be fairly quiet to hear it. Although Angelus and Faith were just singing away on the ABC's this weekend and she was pretty vocal with it. I've also gotten her to use the bathroom in the correct place at least once a day for 5/6 days straight. Still lots of messes, but definitely an improvement. With how insanely stressful the summer was and the majority of last school year, I do hope we continue going in this direction.

Harlow just babbles like a little Angelus did (I hope he never stops and he is talking everybody's head off in no time). He's an insanely determined little Dare Devil. Gonna give us all gray hair before you know it. He likes it when I read books to him and sit and roll the ball back and forth. He also likes to pull all of the food out of the cabinets, climb to the highest point he can get to, climb up on Angelus' bed to wake him in the mornings (angelus likes that too). We tried it with Faith and even though Harlow thought it was fantastic, Faith wasn't much of a fan so we just do it to Angelus.

Tommy's getting to work on more writing projects, which makes him happy. And I'm attempting to do a better job at keeping an evening routine. With how much Faith hates baths it dawned on me that I really should just start a good, solid routine with it because one day she will just be too big for me to pick up and put in the tub (and realistically speaking I will be doing this for the rest of my life), so while she's little enough for me to put her back in the tub if need be, is the best time to make it part of our everyday routine. It should be easier as she gets older/bigger.....at least that's the goal.

A Whole New Blog (only kind of)

I was going to post a new entry on my blog, which I haven't done in well over a year, but I couldn't login. So, figured I might as well start a new one. I'm going to try to post more often than once a year.

We are two days from embarking on a whole new school year. Angelus being a 6th grader, Faith a 3rd grader, and Harlow as my trusty side kick.  Faith has all new teachers, and a new aid. We will miss her old SPED teacher because she was just wonderful, but better opportunities were out there for her (as they should be!). Her new one is a small, soft spoken man that I think Faith will eventually like. He's just a lot different, as in he's someone she doesn't know. I don't know her new aid, but a lot of people around here do. She's several years older than I. I just hope she has her "running shoes" ready. Faith has decided that being dressed is for the birds. She's never been a huge fan of it, but it seems to have blown up to epic proportions this summer. I kid you not, I redress that girl at least 50x a day. So, someone will just have to be right beside her all day long to make sure she isn't flinging her clothes everywhere. So, I'm hopeful that the school will be better than the past couple. If not, we will do something different.
Angelus is beginning 6th grade and at least for now, he will have the same teacher he had last year. We all liked her. She's a good lady and teacher. He hasn't got to have much of an exciting summer these past couple of years because last summer Harlow made his way into the world and I was left recovering from that all summer long. This summer I was very concerned about my ability to say, take them all swimming and make sure Faith and Harlow were safe. Angelus tends to do a fairly decent job listening to me (most days) so I wasn't as nervous about him.

Harlow is a serious walking dude. He eats twice as much as his big sister, can drink out of pretty much any cup you hand him, enjoys laughing and clapping, and saying....uh-oh! And making sure he enunciates it.

This summer Harlow turned 1, Faith turned 8, we had the family get together and have cake and ice cream to celebrate. We got to (finally) check out Crystal Bridges Museum. Other than that the summer consisted of taking Faith to therapy. Which is incredibly important and beneficial and the people there are super nice.

How has your summer been? Are you looking forward to a new school year, or are you dreading it?