Long Time No Post!

Yeah, it's been a while. Life got busy with a newborn, and then I had things and ideas I wanted to post, but I got behind, and then it just felt overwhelming to post it all. So, the perfectionism in me determined that if I couldn't do it right I just wouldn't do it at all. I hate that. I enjoy blogging, and it's the only way I journal, so I really need to get back to posting again.

Thanksgiving is upon us, and Christmas will be here before we know it. I am not sure how well I'll post trying to start back up again with the busy holidays happening, but I'll do what I can. Here is a little update on life since May.

Rebekah graduated from preschool and spent much of the summer making up stories and typing them on the computer. I translated her misspelled words and put them on Facebook, and there I have a hard copy as well as Rebekah's originals. In addition to her stories she made a doll out of paper who she named Taylor and called her sister. This was her way of coping with the fact that Micah is another little brother. For the first few months of Micah's life Rebekah showed a bit of interest in him, but she mostly did her own thing. However, in July we went to the Smokies and met up with some friends during our vacation. The two girls Rebekah's age doted on Micah and thought he was so cute. They wanted to hold him and play with him. From that moment on Rebekah realized that her baby brother was very special, and she took much more interest in him.

Before long it was time to start school. My little girl started kindergarten! She was so thrilled to attend the academy where she went to preschool. She knew three children in her class, and the only child I was confident she knew attended phase-in with Rebekah. They were so excited to see each other that first day. Rebekah transitioned great into kindergarten. She has enjoyed school very much. Getting up early in the morning is starting to get old now, and she has mentioned homeschooling the past week or so. I am still very much open to that if she would like.

Rebekah has been doing really well academically. She is bringing home a first grade reader since she is one of two students who is reading in her class. Just the other day she decided to read one of her books to us as a family. She held up the book so we could see the pictures. She looked like a little teacher reading to her class.

Joshua is growing by leaps and bounds as well. He started pre-K 3 this year and really likes it. We were concerned that Joshua would not be able to attend a three-year-old class (requirement is potty-trained and not having regular accidents) because he was having poop accidents and not going on the potty. Well, he would hold it more than have accidents. He had a couple of really bad days at the beginning of the year, but he is doing much better, however, even though he doesn't have accidents he doesn't poop on the potty either. At home he asks for a pull-up, and many times I find that he is constipated. I may be making a phone call to the ped's office on how to deal with this because I think he is holding it and backing up himself.

On a good note, Joshua is already starting to read. He can read 2-letter and some 3-letter words. Most words are sight words, but the other day he sounded out 'hot'. I'm sure he is picking up a lot from Rebekah. I've thought about taking the kindergarten readers Rebekah brings home that her class is doing, and let Joshua look at them. I had thought about formally teaching him to read, but then I decided against it. He needs to move at his own pace and according to his own interest. As of now he really likes to figure out what letter certain words start with. For example, he will say "sun" starts with "ssssss" "S!" And he'll ask me to spell words as well. Rebekah did the same thing at about his age. While I'm reading he also likes to point out words he knows, or if he hears a word he likes he'll ask me to point it out to him.

Micah is 8 months now, my little peanut at 14 lbs., and a pretty easy baby overall. He was a great sleeper until at 4 months he started teething, and he went from being a great sleeper to waking in the night wanting to nurse. Over time we ended up spoiling him unintentionally, but because he shares a room with Joshua we didn't want to let him cry it out for long. Just a few days ago I decided to make sure he is on his tummy (he loves to sleep on his tummy) and pat his bottom and rub his back and head. He settled down and slept the rest of the night. We are down to waking once in the night or less now.

Micah has also been a slow gainer. For a while the pediatrician was concerned about his weight. I tried adding bottles, but he had no interest in them. I looked for ways to increase nursings and food feedings, and he did well. He is still slow gaining, and I'm keeping tabs on his weight at home. He is a very happy baby and doesn't complain unless he is really hungry, and we are on the road home. I couldn't ask for a more laid back child!

One exciting thing is that Micah is almost crawling! He has scooted his knees forward a couple of times, but he isn't actually making much progress moving forward yet, although he is so close! We keep watching in anticipation for him to take those first crawling "steps".

Since it has been several months since my last post here are some fairly recent pics of the kids.