The County Fair

One-sentence summary:

Addison loved the rides and Kate ADORED the chickens and roosters.

Enough said.

I Heart Faces

I look at this photo every day. It does this mama's heart good to see both of her children laughing while playing together as friends.

The best part, though - to be quite honest, is that Kate is looking into Addison's eyes (well, his one eye actually) and is not locked in her world.

She is completely absorbed in what they are doing together.

Absorbed and full of joy.

Preschool Performances, Getting Flocked, Egg Hunts and Bare Bottoms

It has been a week of kidtastic activities. Kate had her Preschool Bible Study performance the other night, and embraced her inner diva:

Yesterday, we enjoyed beautiful 90 degree weather and an Easter Egg Hunt at our church. Kate was all about getting the pink egg in front of her and Addison wanted to open the eggs as he went. So easy to please (some days)! It didn't hurt that Addison scored some Twix, his very favorite candy....

We were also flocked earlier in the week, courtesy of The Boltons. This was a fundraiser for our church's children's ministry program. You can flock someone, then they have to pay to get the flock removed and passed along to someone else's house. Such fun, despite their VERY POOR TASTE in decorations.

Kate just laughs at the pathetic Cardinal logo....
And then she starts plotting....
Cardinals, really? Kate knew what she was doing when she kicked that Cardinal-cursed flamingo to the ground. That's my Cubs girl!
This final picture is my bare-bottomed boy, after he peed all over his bottoms, my shoes and my hands when we tried to do a side-of-the-road pit stop. He ended up riding home in his t-shirt and shoes, then proceeded to dance in the driveway when we got home. And thus ends our post....

Stretched but not broken

Life with two is wonderful and difficult. Scott and I find we are stretched beyond our capacity right now, but little of that has to do with the kids, really. Melissa is working 50 minutes away from home, longer when taking Addison to Aunt Cindy's first. Scott is working longer hours because, in this economy, we are both just trying to keep our jobs. Scott works for a small business and Melissa won't have her tenure back until June, 2010. Needless to say, we do what we have to do right now.

Unfortunately, that means leaving the house sometimes at 6am and returning at 5:30 or 6pm. Not ideal for the kids, or us, but we'll make it through together.

Addison is blossoming and his language is exploding. He still needs work with articulation, but he's getting speech therapy for that. He is an absolute charmer who loves Thomas the Tank, sand, tricycles, boobies (Yes, boobies. I could go into more detail, but I won't.), school, "his Cindy" (he calls Aunt Cindy, "my Cindy"), and us. He's devilish and sweet, has definite selective hearing and is sure to get cranky when reprimanded. All boy with a soft heart.

Kate is learning so much this year and tries so hard to speak in sentences. We can hear through the inflection that she's saying a sentence, but it's unintelligible. We are slowly working on teaching her to use a Talking Box (it's a low-tech computer device), but I'm struggling with how to teach it to her. She currently has the flu and we're hoping she can fight it on her own, but know that the hospital might be an option. For some reason, when Kate gets sick, she gets really sick. So, we'll see. And we'll pray. And then we'll just follow what comes....

We are going to take a trip to Atlanta in June, most likely, to have Kate tested for Mitochondrial Disorder, which is highly suspected. Some of the symptoms are slow-to-heal (check), compromised immune system (check), when sick, the bloodwork is all haywire (check), autism (check). There's no cure for Mito, but knowing would help us better manage her health care, and would give us the opportunity to be in trial studies should that time arise.

Please keep our family in your prayers, especially Kate. We are blessed, but we are also feeling the stress of life right now, so we could really use your prayers right about now.

Still the Lucky Ones,

S., M., K, & A

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

So, so, sooo cute!

Puppy Love

Meet Rosie.
She's small, she doesn't bark, and had only peed on our floor twice. It's all good - Kate has too.

Seriously, though, she's just perfect for our family. Thank you, Jessica, for giving your sweet girl to our family. The kids are head-over-heels in love with her and Rosie has been so gentle with them. She's adjusting very nicely and has barked maybe five times in the past week.

Below -- the kids hear that there is a puppy coming, Kate squeals with delight, and Addison finds a new buddy:

**** On a very sad note, Melissa's computer has died. It was a slow death, with one fan dying, then the next, and then the black screen of death. I was waiting for tax return money to fix the fans. Now it is going to cost a LOT more to fix. Sigh....

My Lovely Girl

I know, I'm a bad blogger. Life just keeps getting in the way!

I will be posting a Christmas-wrapup, but my mind is been focused on Kate lately. She's just been facing a lot. She was on MRSA watch (but ended up with a deep tissue staph infection instead, thank God), has been experiencing a lot of sadness and isolation lately, and just seems very aware of her "differentness" lately. And it seems to bother her. And, of course, her sadness just kills us. I've been spending a lot of time to make sure she's not excluded from places and situations, which is fine, but it's been a lot of effort lately. I guess I'm facing my own issues with it all, as well. It's so difficult that she continues to be such a mystery.

Nothing drove home this point like Christmas. When people would ask what Kate wanted for Christmas, I struggled, stammered and stuttered looking for the right answer. If you were to ask me what Addison would like at any given time, I could easily whip up a list of twenty things that would make him jump up and down and say, "Oh, wow!" But Kate is a horse of a different color entirely.

Which is why the gift from godparents Aunt Cindy and Uncle Russ resulted in my single-most joyous moment of Christmas. From the moment she saw that Hippity Hop Ball, her eyes were lit up and the smile stretched across her face. For that moment, she was so present and happy and free.

Being a family of four was the best part of Christmas, but Kate's sheer happiness was the best single moment of the day. Bad photos, but great smiles.

We will be heading to Atlanta for a fresh muscle biopsy to see if Kate has mitochondrial disease in the spring (which she has all the classic symptoms of), so moments like these help us focus on what matters: our sweet girl.

More later.

Look at those eyes. Isn't she just beautiful?

Notes to Self

• Just because the kids go to bed late does NOT mean they will sleep late. In fact, they won't. They will wake up early and be extremely crabby by 9am, if history proves to be any indicator.


• Telling kids that fireworks are nothing to be afraid of *might* help them not to be afraid, but will not necessarily help them to sleep through them. At least not in Kate's case, who kept signing "hot" and then "work." It took me a while to understand that this was how she was signing fireworks. Very funny.


• Putting a Winnie the Pooh movie on in the early a.m., in an attempt to grab a bit of shut eye (since I stayed awake until 2am so I could wish my hubby a Happy New Year after he got home from work), is futile. One of my children, who shall remain nameless (k@te!) does not simply watch a movie. She experiences it, as do I -- through her nails clawing into me when she's scared or her contagious laughter right into my face when something is funny.


• Being tired passes, but these memories hopefully never will. And when the 9am crabbiness rolls around, I plan on bribing them with whatever keeps them relatively happy until naptime (some playtime outside, crackers for Kate, KungFu Panda for Addison). If all that fails, there is always a mimosa for mama. ;-)
  
  Pics from Christmas and a post about our beautiful kiddos coming soon. Happy New Year to all!
  
  The Lucky Ones