Merry Christmas!

Are you surprised that I still exist? As I was telling a friend today, it is not intentional that I set out to neglect this blog. It's just that, well, life has changed since we moved and my blogging has changed with it. The transition here has been challenging, and in the process I have lost nearly all in-person friendship and interaction. My lack of blogging reflects that same process. I have literally fallen out of practice in sharing life with others. I don't want to stay in this isolated place though, so I'm going to try to start blogging again. I started this blog to be a record of our lives, primarily for our children, and so far they aren't going to learn very much about our time in this place from reading here. So, where to begin?

Julie had ear surgery again in November. It had been 4 months since her last surgery, and the growth had already come back and was even trying to get into her inner ear. That is scary because if it does, she will lose all chances of hearing on that side. The doctor really cleaned it out and then modified the anatomy of her ear to try to dissuade the growth from returning. We had one post-op visit and we go back again in January. The healing process is slow, but so far everything is on track. If all looks well in January, we will start pursuing the hearing implant (BAHA) that I wrote about once before. We tried to get approval for it to go in during this surgery, but our insurance denied it and we're changing insurance Jan 1 anyway. I am so grateful that we found this wonderful doctor who is so skilled at what he is doing. These surgeries are scary because they can permanantly affect hearing, balance and facial paralysis (Julie's facial nerve is exposed in there because the growth ate away at the nerve covering). It's also so not fun to see her in such discomfort after the surgery. She is usually sick to her stomach for a good 6-8 hours, and this time was no exception. She had to stay 1 night in the hospital but was ready to go by morning. Physically, the recovery is kind of bloody, but the pain seems managable. We're past all that stuff now, yay! Julie is such a brave girl, really. She hates the mask they use to put her to sleep, but she held herself together up until the last minute when it was time fot the mask. Larry went back with her and helped until she was out, which is such a nice thing they do at this hospital. The surgery itself was about 4.5 hours. Again, my girl is SO brave, and I am so thankful to God for watching over her.

We have had several family celebrations recently too. December 5th marked the 5th anniversary of Julie's adoption! We celebrated in our usual fashion, with a ring-shaped chocolate chip cookie and the singing of "happy anniversary to our family." I can't believe it's been 5 years. Then on the 9th, Joseph turned 2!! That is also utterly amazing. He is not at all baby anymore. In fact, he blows us away with all is doing these days. Mostly, I am thinking about his language skills. He speaks in full 10-word sentences and has all kinds of more "advanced" language structures. I know this not just from listening to him (because I could be biased, I know), but also because both girls' speech therapists come into our home and marvel at Joseph's language abilities. He loves to call after me when I'm leaving him at naptime, "Mommy! Come back here! I have to tell you something! I have a question for you! What does the cow say?" Then we go back and forth with me giving wrong answers and him cracking up until I finally tell him "Mommy says good night!" This morning I got him out of bed and brought him to our bed, where he looked at my body pillow and told me "That's a pillow babies use. When the baby pops out, it lay on the pillow like this." Huh? I have no idea where he gets this stuff, but it sure is fun to listen to his brain work! He also loves to make up rhymes. For example, he'll ask "whatch doin' Daddy waddy?" At the risk of sounding presumptuous, we got a book out of the library about raising gifted children, and so far a lot of it fits Joseph. For example, if I give him a picture and some crayons, he quickly gets frustrated that he can't color in the lines like he wants to, and he asks me to "clean up" the parts he went over, then he asks me to color for him, pointing to the parts he wants me to color. Now I give him blank paper instead. He also knows all his colors and many letters, both upper and lower case. I don't mention the gifted thing in order to brag, really. I had a friend before we moved who had a gifted child, confirmed by testing, and she got a lot of flack if she told people. It shouldn't be that way, though, because gifted children have unique needs too, and parents/teachers need to know that. I've been all over the map with my kids' unique abilities, and this is no different. I don't know if Joseph is technically gifted, but I do know that I need to try to nurture him the best way I can, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and every other way. Right now he's a bright, verbal, loving, silly, willful, capable, fun, affectionate, goofy, creative, helpful little boy whom I love with all my heart! There is nothing like a little boy hug followed by "I love you, Mommy." Thank you, Lord, for the precious gift of my son!

Melody hasn't had any birthdays or anniversaries recently, but she is growing so much in so many ways. Spiritually, exciting things are happening. Just yesterday she prayed about Jesus being her savior, something she's been saying she wanted to do for many months. It was so sweet to hear. I can't wait to watch her faith deepen and grow over time. This has been one of the big benefits of homeschooling. And speaking of which, Melody has been speeding right along in her studies. We've been doing preschool since we moved here, and she excels at nearly everything! Just in the last 2 months, she has learned to form all her letters and she writes amazingly neatly. Just today we started the Kindergarten handwriting book I had been saving for next year because she is ready now. She's excited to learn to read and I'm excited to start working with her on it. I am so blessed by this child...she is precious beyond words. She has such a sweet heart and helpful spirit. Tonight she covered me up with a blanket and then played with my hair for a good 10 minutes. I am so grateful to be Melody's Mommy!

And since this seems to be turning into a summary of our children, I suppose it is long past-due that I share our newest news. As many of you already know, we are expecting blessing #4! Since I have neglected this blog for so long, the baby's arrival is pretty much right around the corner at this point. I am due mid-February, somewhere around the 15th or 17th. We chose not to find out the gender this time, so it's going to be a big surprise. I have plenty more to say about this whole topic, but this is already getting really long and I have other things to do tonight. Also, I have pictures to post and job/life news to relate. So, I will have to come back and finish up. Thanks for reading and I hope you had a meaningful Christmas!

Milestones Cont'd

Speaking of birthdays, this special little girl turned 4 at the end of September.

I am constantly amazed at who she is and what incredible talents God has given her. Our Melody is one smart, caring, funny, sweet, responsible, helpful, loving girl. There is no holding her back. We do preschool together at home, but she also participates in all of the 1st grade goings-on too. And I don't mean that she observes. No, she listens to the stories and answers questions, she makes up math scenarios and does her best to write down the addition/subtraction statements that go with them, she points out all kinds of patterns all throughout our day, and more. I have come to believe that she and I are a lot alike in the way our brains work. We are both mathematical, detailed types. Also, I seriously have never met a young child who is so responsible. We have been told by more than one person that she is "3 going on 30," or I guess now "4 going on 40?!" Melody is also an extremely loving child who still wants to rub her brother's soft hair every morning, even though he protests. She is just an amazing person and I cannot imagine life without her. She is a shining star that lights up our family in such a beautiful way. Happy 4th birthday, sweet girl!

To complete the birthdays, we celebrated one more today:


Happy 44th, Larry! Melody, of course, loves the fact that she is 4 and Daddy is 44. As for where we went out to eat...it was the kids' choice...any guesses? We try to encourage the kids to think of other people on their birthdays and give something special, so they decided that Daddy needed to go to McD's for a kids' meal, the epitome of special things! The girls were thrilled to discover that they were the ones who ended up with the kids' meals. Joseph was happy just to eat several little paper tubs of ketchup, as usual, which accounts for most of the mess on his face. Tomorrow we will eat at home and sing Happy Birthday to Daddy over some freshly baked brownies. Here's to a great year ahead!

Milestones

There have been numerous milestones around here lately. Let me share a few...

My grandmother turned 100 in July! We all enjoyed a special birthday celebration for her at a great little restaurant near her home. Happy Birthday, Oma!

My Aunt, My Grandmother, My Mother:

Oma with her only Grandchild (Me) and Great-grandchildren:

Joseph is 1 and she is 100. Wow. Can you imagine the changes she has seen in her lifetime? Add to that the fact that she came to this country from Europe by herself when she was only 16, not speaking a word of English, and you get one pretty amazing story. I am sad to think that we probably don't have many more birthdays together, but I am so glad we could be there for this one.

Okay, I know I said I'd share a few milestones, but I am realizing that I need to get pictures off of the camera first. I will aim to finish this up tomorrow night!

How to Eat Spaghetti

I bet we'd all have a lot more fun if we tried it this way!

Updates

Julie's surgery went well and I thank you for your support and concern. The details are complex, but the bottom line is that her ear "cavern" (she doesn't have an ear canal because our previous Dr. had to take it down) was just full of sheets and sheets of infected skin, for lack of a better description. It's all related to her cleft palate and non-functioning Eustachian tube on the left side. The doctor cleaned it all out and gave us a game plan for the future. He needs to go back in several months from now to try to smooth out the cavern walls so that they are more self-cleaning and less likely to accumulate this gunk. After that, he will still need to go in periodically to clean things out. Once she is old enough to cooperate, he can do it in the office. Also, we are now working on getting Julie a BAHA hearing device to restore hearing to her left ear. It is similar to a Cochlear implant but it directs the sound differently. The doctor would like to put the implant part of the device into Julie's head at the same time he goes back in to smooth things out. It is exciting to think that she may finally be able to hear on that side again. The biggest benefit is that she will gain the ability to locate sound in space and better follow conversation. So, that's the gist of all that!

As for the rest of our life, we are still struggling. I avoid blogging because I don't know what to say and whether you all want to hear me complain. But, the honest truth is that we feel kind of beaten down on multiple fronts. We go through an almost daily cycle of uncertainty and confusion regarding the girls' medical care, school issues, housing issues, job issues, and health issues. I've had several ocular migraines since March. In the past I'd had maybe two random ones ever. They're really disturbing because I first sense that I can't see in a certain part of my field of vision and within minutes I have patches of wavy vision in the same spot. The eye dr says it's not a concern as long as it passes within 30 minutes or so, which it always has. But still, I hate the experience and I don't like that they are happening more often. Seriously, the stress levels around here are immense. We feel kind of emotionally homeless, without a safe home base to retreat to and process/think/rest. Our apartment is what it is, small and basic. I cannot unpack our things and I don't even know where some of them are (other than buried in a storage unit). I am going to make it through the whole summer without ever locating my sandals or flip-flops. I miss knowing where things are and having all of our resources at hand (thinking of desk supplies and kids' toys right now). I still haven't put my own clothes back in my drawers because I really didn't think we'd be in this apartment for long. I also miss my old dishwasher, fridge and sink with a sprayer, not to mention central air. I have a list of people I'm supposed to call, and I work on it, but it grows just as fast. Right now it contains the name of a rep from the local Shriner's to talk about Melody's medical care, the name of a speech therapist I'm hoping to use with Julie, the name of a lawyer from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association to ask for help in figuring out this state's many regulations before my paperwork is due next month, and the name of a doctor for me who doesn't take my insurance but is willing to work with me anyway (long story I'll elaborate on later). We also keep looking at houses but nothing ever seems right. I guess there's a reason my head hurts! We are seriously unsure where we belong and if we should try to get back "home." The supposed better salary is not turning out to be as much as we'd hoped, since other expenses eat up much of the difference (insurance and taxes are much more, for example). I know I probably sound terribly petty and ungrateful, and maybe I am. I need God to straighten out my thinking and help me walk in His peace. Hopefully progress in that direction will come soon...

Surgery, Finally

Tomorrow Julie will have ear surgery to determine the cause of the bleeding that began on March 7th. Yes, her ear has been bleeding for 4.5 months. Our move really complicated things, not helped by the fact that the medical system in our new area is not like the one we left. It is not easy to navigate and getting specialty care takes soooo long. That is one of the issues that has made our transition here more challenging than I expected. In fact, we are currently planning to take Melody back to Chicago for surgery in September because we can't find any comparable care here. In any case, we would appreciate your prayers tomorrow for Julie and for her doctor, that he can figure out the cause of the bleeding and do something to stop it. I will update when I know more. Thank you!

Us

Memorial Day parade...and first lost tooth!

Running in a kids' race. I think this one should be in Runner's World :).

Potter math: 3 kids + 1 box of packing peanuts = snow-suited fun 4 all!

In other events, Julie turned 6 yesterday! That is seriously hard to believe. She was so little when we first met. Now she chatters non-stop and asks questions that bend my mind into knots. Thankfully she usually moves on to the next question before I figure out how to get out of answering the one I don't know. I'm trying to remember one to share right now, but they are so unusual and she asks to many that I just can't recall one right now. I'll try to jot one down to share another time.

Also, Joseph is now 18 months old! He is one busy boy. He, too, chatters non-stop. In fact, he put 5 words together the other day. We were in the car and he wanted Daddy to turn on the music, so he instructed "Dada push button wight dere!" Usually he sticks to 3 or 4 word sentences like "Dada soda drink" or "Butterfly (pronounced buh-da-da) Mama leg" (re-telling the story of one landing on my leg) or "Grandma bed bshhhhh" (imitating the sound of the air mattress deflating) or "Daddy puter button push." It is so fun to hear what he's thinking! One of my favorite phrases is after he gets a bump and he declares "bump foot/hand/etc, kiss it!" He also continues to be very active and agile. He can walk a curb like a balance beam and he's trying hard to jump off too. We're still waiting on his last 4 teeth to come in, but judging by the crankiness of late, they could be right around the corner!

As for houses, we are very grateful that our old place sold. Sadly, we kind of botched the deal on the new place and didn't get it. I know it's just a house, but I am really sad. We've driven by lots of other places and nothing compares to that one. Is it wrong to pray that the other buyer's deal falls through? That's about all I have to say about it because it still bothers me a lot. It also reminds me of how much I miss home and everything we left behind. I keep hoping it will get easier here, but so far it hasn't. Maybe time will help or maybe we need to find a way out of here. Only God knows, I suppose. I hope He will help us all find a place to belong soon.

Thanks for reading!

Pins & Needles

I'm sorry I post so infrequently these days. It's just that when I finally have some down time there are so many other things that need doing. Right now, for example, I should be emptying the dishwasher and re-loading it, folding laundry, cleaning bathrooms and spending more one-on-one time with Melody. Then I have to wake Joseph up and go pick Julie up early from school for an eye appointment. No wonder the blog usually gets relegated to the bottom of the list! It's a good problem to have though. I am deeply grateful for the dishes, laundry and especially children that make my life as busy as it is. :) :)

So, what about pins and needles? Well, we are set to close on our old place this Thursday! Can you believe it? Everything looks good to go at this point. We're going to sign papers after Julie's eye appointment this afternoon. The buyers have their financing and have already sold their old place. It has been amazing to watch God take care of us in this whole process of moving and change. Also, the same day that our buyers' financing came through, a house went on the market around the corner from where we're renting. I took one look at it and fell in love. It seems so perfect. We have yet to see the inside, except for the 16 photos in the online listing. Still, we've walked past it about 20 times and I like it more and more. Julie is convinced it is "our house." We keep telling her that we need to pray about it and that we don't know if it is where God wants us to live. She just looks at us and says "I know!" She keeps wanting to dance in the driveway when we walk by! So, this is why I am on pins and needles. We haven't been in any rush to look for a house, but it was definitely in our near-future plans. This one kind of popped up in front of us. I am trying really hard not to rush ahead or get too attached, but I am also anxious about another family snapping it up in the meantime. We've put in a call to a realtor and we're waiting to hear back. I'll post updates as they come!

Do you see the resemblance?

Hee hee...

Yes!

Yes, Joseph was touching an elephant in the previous post's picture. We went to the zoo here for the first time and had a great time exploring and learning. I had never seen an elephant so close before. Their skin is much hairier than I thought. It was amazing to be so near such a large animal. Here are a few more pictures of her:


Julie was so excited to pet her. I got that on video. Melody wanted nothing to do with it! Here are the girls with the new friends we went to the zoo with:

All in all, we're settling in more each day. I hope to share more thoughts on that soon. Plus, there are some big decisions going on here regarding school issues. I don't have the time for all of that right now, but I will say that God is definitely using this move to break down our routines and comfort zones and rebuild our family and identity in new ways. I feel like we will look back on this time period as a landmark for us. One more thing. If you are led, would you please pray for the sale of our condo. We are in the midst of negotiating a contract with potential buyers and it would be SO great if it went through. If we can sell the condo, we can start looking around at homes to buy here. I can hardly contain my excitement at the thought of living in an actual house with space for all of us and a yard for playing. Thank you and I'll keep you posted!

Can You Guess?

Can you guess what Joseph is touching in this picture? The only hint I'll give you is that I had never touched anything like it before this day, and that it was pretty cool!

Beautiful Landscape

I am slowly starting to process what it means to be in this new place that seems so different from our old place. One of the positive aspects is the absolutely gorgeous scenery here. We are surrounded by rolling hills, woods, trails, lakes, streams and even waterfalls. Here's a picture of our family in one of our favorite parks so far.

Here's a waterfall at another park. If you look closely, you can see some tiny people down below to give you some perspective.

And here's a picture of the beautiful landscape in my living room :-).

A Mother's Prayer

I came across this today and it spoke to so many things on my heart right now. Maybe it will speak to you too.

A Mother's Prayer

Help me dear Lord, as a mother, I pray
And bless these hands folded in prayer today;
May they be ever strong as they guide, as they teach,
Beings never too far for a child to reach.
May they never, with selfishness, try to dissuade,
Nor too quickly punish, nor too slowly aid.
May they point out the pleasures in laughter and song,
And may they show, wisely, the right from the wrong,
So that one day I'll know that I've helped all I can
To make her a woman, to make him a man.

- Mary A. Loberg

Father and Son

I love these shots. Right now they also bring back memories of "home" since they were taken before we moved. I have some of the girls to post too...I hope to find more computer time as things settle into more of a rhythm around here. Happy belated Easter to you all!

We've Arrived

Please excuse my lengthy absence! We have officially managed to move our household halfway across the country, do-it-yourself style. Today is the first day I have had access to my computer in about a week. The TV is still in a box, so I am really living in a news blackout. Someone call me if there's something huge going on and I just don't know it! Our new place is small but cozy and it will feel even better once the boxes are out of the way. The area is quite a bit different than what we left. I'm experiencing some culture shock, even though this is much more like where I grew up. I am definitely a creature of habit and I loooove the comfort of routine and the support of a network of relationships, neither of which I have right now. I am trying to keep a level head and give things a chance, but it isn't exactly easy. Everything in life feels different right now and I miss my home and dear friends. Especially late at night, it is easy to give in to the temptation to wallow in sadness over the things I've lost, but I know that's not productive. The kids, on the other hand, seem to be doing really well! Julie cannot wait to make friends...I need to get her enrolled in school this week. More importantly, though, I need to find a pediatrician and try to get an appointment for April 1st when our insurance begins (thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe as we drove 12 hours with no insurance). Julie has been experiencing bleeding from the ear she has had multiple surgeries on. It started on March 7th and has been trickling out daily after we put drops in. Then yesterday it started up again and a big clump of stuff came out. We have no idea what is going on in there and it feels very vulnerable not to have our doctors here to help. I have the name of a ped that is supposed to be good and I hope he can refer us to a highly skilled ENT. Well, it is quite late and I am starting to lose mental cohesion and teeter on the edge of negative thinking. Tomorrow is another day!

(Just for the record, I have not seen a single chain coffee shop here yet! We did visit the local duck pond though!!)

What a Girl Does...

...when she loves her little brother very, very much!

What a Boy Does...

...when he's transitioning from 2 naps to 1 and can't quite make it through lunch:

Updates

Virus: It's still kicking around here. I'm so tired of it that I don't think I'll even write more. Take THAT, Mr. Virus. Now, get out!!!!

Numbness: I went for a nerve conduction study yesterday and I'm waiting on the results. Needless to say, I've been imagining worst case scenarios in my head, which doesn't help my nerves any. Most likely it's a pinched/compressed nerve somewhere, but still my mind takes me down all kinds of crazy roads. Especially late at night, fear and anxiety can easily get the best of me. I haven't felt this physically vulnerable since right after Joseph's birth when so many things were out of whack. I hope some answers come soon.

Job: I've saved the biggest for last. Larry got the job and he's taking it! Like I said, this is BIG. He's worked hard for this and I'm very happy for him. It is very bittersweet, of course, because it means leaving all of our dear, dear friends here. Like many things in life, gain and loss come hand in hand and one must find a way to rejoice and grieve at the same time. Sometimes it seems like too much for a heart to hold, but thankfully God is big enough to catch the overflow. At this point, we are looking at starting our move on March 21st. There is SO much to do before then. Talk about anxiety! I think I'll stop here for now, even though there's much more floating about in my head. I just wanted to get this out here so that some of you hear it from me before from someone else. I'll send out an email with more details soon.

Hanging in There

The tummy bug has left the premises, other than the occasional icky diaper and the fact that Joseph still won't eat. That could also be because he is still coughing so much and hard that his little throat probably hurts a lot. He can't make it through a whole night because of the coughing. Today he got up at 4. I just put him back in bed at 6:30. I just wish I could sleep the morning away too! I sure hope this ends soon. I finally caved and started him on antibiotics and I'm praying they will help. I need to find some time to take care of some health issues of my own. About a week and a half ago my left hand started going numb. The numbness has settled into my thumb and pointer finger, as well as the back of my hand. My palm feels strange too, kind of hot. It's there 24/7 and is really disconcerting. I also get tingling up my arm. I'm pretty sure this is related to the neck issue I've been facing for the last 1.5 years. I've been in physical therapy for that and the pain has really improved, but now this numbness. Sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about what if it never goes away. I know there are much heavier crosses to bear out there, and I try to keep perspective. I am definitely thankful that it's not my right hand. Still, it scares me to think of never feeling my hand again. I know the doctors will want me to treat it with drugs, but I've been unwilling because I don't want to wean Joseph yet. Right now it's all just too much for my sleep-deprived brain to process. Doesn't everything seem worse without sleep? Lord, what is your will in all of this? Please help me to see you through the fog. That's what I need most of all.

Retraction

I guess I spoke too soon. After doing great all day, Joesph started up again around 3:30, poor guy :(. I better not venture to say more until the dust settles, so to speak. Did I also mention he has pink eye? :( :( :(

Changing my Tune

Let's just say that four super-squirty diapers later, I'm convinced that this portion of Joseph's illness is decidedly not, ahem, upper respiratory! Poor guy seems to have a tummy virus on top of the sinus thing. The good news is that the vomiting part of the virus lasted a mere 2.5 hours and now we've moved on to greener pastures (pun intended, ha!). It's also good to see Joseph laughing and playing and acting like nothing is wrong. My queasy tummy is easing up too and I'm praying that the girls and Larry can avoid the whole thing or at least only get the queasy part like I did. Is spring here yet????


This might be a good time to officially thank my friend, A, for nominating me for the Lemonade out of Lemons blog award! I am pathetically slow in responding, but I want her to know that it means a lot to me that she, in particular, thinks I have a good attitude about difficult things. I struggle with that and don't feel like I win a lot of the time. I have learned that I have a choice about my attitude and I try to choose more wisely than I used to. A and I have known each other online for several years and I honestly can't think of many people with a better attitude than her, and the best part is that it is born out of genuine faith. I am supposed to nominate 10 other bloggers for this award, but I don't think there are 10 blogs I read whose owners actually know who I am! So, I'll just say thank you once again to A.

Quick Update

Sorry to have left you all hanging after my last post. I'll give you a quick update of both situations with more detials to follow soon.

Virus: Kids are still sick, Joseph still worst of all. I just made an appointment to take all 3 to the doctor today. Joseph has been coughing for 10 days straight and I think it has finally irritated his insides. I heard him coughing in his sleep last night but then it changed and he was gagging and heaving. I went in there and was sure we were going to be dealing with tummy flu, ack. It turns out he really only brought up acid, leading me to believe that he was gagging on the congestion and possibly causing himself reflux. That was 3AM. I held him on me for the next couple of hours and he gagged/heaved 4 more times. After letting him walk around a little, I nursed him and that all stayed down. I really don't think he has the flu. I think he has some kind of upper respiratory infection (ear? sinus?) and that the post-nasal drip and constant coughing is adding up. I hope the doctor can help him and I hope we can all get more sleep tonight!

Job: According to Larry's last conversation with the potential employer, they should be making an official offer early this week. After that, we have a decision to make.

That's about it for now! Oh, we are supposed to get a foot of snow overnight and tomorrow. I hope the kidlets can get well enough to enjoy it!!

A Virus and a Video-conference

Yes, that about sums up what is going on in our little world right now. Perhaps I should elaborate a tad...

A Virus
Sadly, so sadly, the kids have yet another virus of some sort. We just got over one not even a week ago. That one was with us since New Year's Eve and caused us to miss three weeks of church. Now there's another virus circulating and we missed another day of church. We've been to church exactly once during the month of January. I am most worried about Joseph right now since he has been waking himself up with a croupy cough and all that comes with it, like trouble catching his breath. I find it so scary. I have a humidifier running in his room and I am ready to take him out in the cold if need be, but I'm hoping it doesn't get worse than that. Melody had croup really bad once and we had to take her to the ER for meds. Please pray for my little guy tonight.

A Video-conference
This one is a biggie. Many of you know that Larry has been applying and interviewing for jobs for several years (he still has his job; he's just been looking for a change). He's also been taking classes toward another master's degree to help his endeavors. Long story short, he's put a lot into this process and gotten close several times. He even traveled to interviews twice in the past year, only to have the job go to someone else. Well, he has another interview tomorrow and it seems like the most promising of all by far. He has already had EIGHT interviews with this company (yes, 8!), all on the phone since the job is not local. Tomorrow he is going to their offices in our city to have a video interview with 3 of the same people he's already spoken to on the phone. We are all on pins and needles to see what comes of this. If he gets the job, it would mean a major move for our family, but it would take us within 1.5 hours of my mother, who has still not met Joseph (I am an only child, so my kids are the only grandkids). I would love for my kids to have my mom in their lives, and I would love for her to have us in her life. We would also be within a day's drive of my aunt and grandmother (who is going to be 100 this summer, and has not met Melody or Joseph.). Still, it would be a big deal and we need to know that God is leading us in this direction. If not, so be it. Prayers for clarity and wisdom would be much appreciated. I will keep you all posted as I know more!

And now, for good measure, here's a picture from December that I keep meaning to share! Sled boy!

Lost and Found (Maybe)

Joseph is at that adorable age where he delights in putting things inside of other things. Sounds innocent enough, right? But, don't forget to account for his toddler sense of humor and curiosity. That makes everything much more interesting! For example, are you looking for the missing puzzle piece to the girls' puzzle? Why, look in Daddy's slipper, of course! Need Joseph's other shoe to put on his foot? Silly...look in the kitchen towel drawer! Mommy's wool hat? The recycle bin makes a nice home for it! Julie's shoe? The clothes hamper. Bath toys? The hallway garbage can. His prized Blue Bear? Getting dunked in the toilet before Melody had a chance to flush, eeeeewwwwww! Okay, so that last example is a bit different, but you get my point! The best part is when he grins and claps for himself after depositing an item into whatever receptacle he's chosen at the moment. I love to watch his little mind work! Just remind me not to let him get a hold of my car keys or else we might be stuck in the house until spring cleaning reveals their hiding place (if I even get to spring cleaning; we might be housebound permanently!).

School!

Yesterday was a big day around here. Melody started pre-school! Today was another big day as she rode the bus to school for the first time. Although she cried for a few minutes at drop-off yesterday, there were nothing but smiles today. I think she is really enjoying it!

Yesterday, sporting the same backpack that Julie used for pre-school.

Waiting to be dropped-off.

Today, on the bus for the first time.

Waving as the bus pulled away.


As much as my Mommy heart aches to see her go, I believe this is a good thing for her. After she aged out of Early Intervention at age 3, we met with the school and set up an IEP that gave Melody speech therapy twice a week for 30 minutes. I took her there for several months before we all realized it just wasn't going to meet her needs. So, we met with the school again and changed her program. Melody is now in a small class of students with a lot of adult support. She has the same teacher and speech therapist that Julie had for the last quarter of last year, which is wonderful. We love the school and we love these particular teachers. I am hopeful that Melody will make a lot of progress there. For now, we're all settling into the new routine and adjusting to the fact that Melody is gone all morning and Julie is gone all afternoon, leaving them much less time together than before. Technically, I now have two kids in school! How did that happen? At least I still have one who can't fit into a backpack (although I'm sure he'd love to try...did I mention that he has figured out how to push the kitchen chairs around to get them where he wants them so that he can climb up and reach various things like, oh, say, the STOVE?!? But I digress...). They just grow up so fast!