Early in the month we celebrated Easter. It is my favorite holiday and easily the most important so I really like to make it special and memorable. The trouble was that I had a baby in my arms every spare second. Still, I plotted and made plans and the second my hands were free and children weren’t around I tried to get different things ready and write down ideas.
Sadly, the night before Easter Dane came down with a stomach bug and was in a rotten mood so our actual Easter started out very, very sad. We had made special plans but didn’t get to do them so I decided to take my kids to the park, angry and hurt.
As we pulled in, I saw scores of families gathered to celebrate and I could barely keep back the tears. We had no family or friends to celebrate with and no plans (anymore.). I felt so sorry for myself. I prayed in my heart to stop feeling such anger and disappointment and that the children could still have a good day.
Then little miracles started happening. First, a nice lady and her daughter offered my kiddos some snacks. They were waiting for her family to join her and she could tell I was struggling (and not just with a crying baby.)
Then one of Atticus’s good friends just happened to show up at the park. They hadn’t seen each other in months and the boys had a blast playing with him. Then, when we got home two sweet friends invited us to come over for lunch with their families. I cried as I accepted the invitation. Easter was saved!
We had a wonderful time with those families and when we got home I got my bearings and we were able to do some really fun, Christ-centered activities to end our day. By the end Dane was feeling better and we ate a great dinner.
The moral of the story is that the atonement can heal anything: lives, families, marriages or even a fractured, disappointing day.
Israel’s mystery difficulties didn’t go away but things have gradually gotten easier. The most difficult part of the days have been nights. It is so hard to get him to settle down at night. After observation, research and prayer we felt that he was probably suffering from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease.) This explains why he has never been able to sleep on his back and has such a difficult time staying asleep. I wear him all the time and spent most of the month sleeping in a recliner while holding him upright.
Our pediatrician prescribed medicine that seems to be helping. We've also taken him to a pediatric chiropractor three times and that also seems to be helping. Things aren't perfect but I'll take any improvement!
Something that has made this such a better month has been his smiles. This little boy is so sweet and interactive! It started right around six weeks (the peak of his colic) but has just gotten better and better. He tries to talk and has such a sweet, pure voice, moving his tongue around and often gurgling as he does so. It is the BEST!
He turned two months old on the 21st and he weighed in at 12 lbs 11 oz a couple days later. He was in the 60 percentile for weight and height, if I remember correctly. The doctor was very impressed with his strength, joking that he got a "triple A+" when she watched him raise his head and look around.
Here are all four of the kiddos in the same outfit. Top L-R Atticus & Hinckley, Bottom L-R Lucy & Israel. You can see the resemblance but I also see such differences! It looks like our Israel will have blue eyes like Atticus and he seems to have a dimple on his chin like Hinckley.
Here we are with a friend whose beautiful little man was born just a few days before Israel. We're hoping they're best friends in the making...
Below you can see him in the hot tub with Dane for his first time ever. He seemed to enjoy himself.
This month was a rough one with Lucy. She started throwing up, on and off, back in March and it just kept happening. We'd go a day or two with no vomiting and then she'd wake up early from a nap or yell out in the middle of the night with throw up in her bed. She also had diarrhea on and off so it was just so puzzling and frustrating. We're still unsure of what was happening. Was it teething? Was she eating and/or drinking too quickly? Was it a stomach bug? As I'm writing this she has gone three days without any vomiting so we are praying that it has passed. It is so hard to stay up with other children when you're already up so much with a baby.
I wish I could say that we handled all of these episodes with poise but that is just not the case. I've yelled a lot and felt so upset. Especially when she threw up in the car a few days ago.
Yet again, I have had to rely on the atonement to repent and try again each time, apologizing to sweet Lucy for yelling and trying harder to keep my cool the next time.
Aside from the sickness, she is just so adorable. She has started waking up earlier and opening her door (she's been such an amazing sleeper for all this time) and while it can be frustrating if she gets up too early, she is so sweet and happy to go in the stroller on a run with me or watch me work out.
Her favorite dress is the "red dwess" and she would wear it every day and night if we let her because it's so "petty." Her favorite books are the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books, especially the two Pig books, as well as the I Want to Potty book (she wants to wear underwear so badly and has gone #1 and #2 on the potty here and there but just doesn't seem to be ready yet.) Her favorite songs are "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," "I Love to See the Temple" and "Are You Sleeping?" She is singing more and more.
Listen to Lucy:
- "I wake up.... Good morning." (even if it's in the afternoon after a nap.)
- "Don't put it away, Mom."
- "Don't close it, Mom." (the door)
- "I pooping."
- "This_______ yucky!" (about any food she doesn't want to eat, whether or not she's tried it.)
- ("Lucy, will you open the door?") "No! I.... mean! I... mad!"
Boy, did Hinckley have a better month!
Yes, he didn't want to go to his first soccer practices but man, he made a 180 and worked so hard at his practices and games. So much so that he scored 6 goals in one game! In his most recent game he scored 4 goals! It is so fun to watch. He looks so happy every time and is becoming so confident.
He still has tantrums but is back to being his sweet, cuddly self.
He is getting so great at reading and loves it so much. He often asks for an extra page. This is also true of math. He asked to start Kindergarten math and has been consistent in tackling at least a page every day.
The other notable thing that happened for Hinckley this month occurred the day after Easter. We were at the Dinosaur Park when he found a baby bunny! I sure wish I had gotten a picture.
Hinckley Speaks:
"Mom, where is the Dead Sea?" (I start to explain...) "No, I mean the "empty sea." (..."Ohhh! You mean the 'MTC'?")
Atticus started a club this month. It all began with a hole that he and Hinckley started digging in the front yard. We've let them dig before, looking for gold and treasure but they always gave up shortly after beginning. This time it was different. They kept digging and digging and ended up making a pretty impressive "trench" as they called it. It was meant for nerf warfare and it got quite a bit of use.
Since they had the equivalent of a treehouse or clubhouse in our urban habitat, I guess it was only natural for the kids to form a club. Atticus elected himself as the leader (I think he might call himself the "general" or the "president") and has assigned every other kid a special role (things like, "spy," "bodyguard," and lowly positions like "cook"- that was mine.)
It has been both fun to see them use their imaginations and frustrating to have a mess in our front yard, so we gave them a deadline: May 1. The kids lived it up and even put a cast off rug in their hole to make it more comfortable.
There was great mourning the day the trench was filled in but I feel confident that their little hearts will go on.
The soccer season has gone on and Atticus has been loving it. He puts his heart and soul out on the field every game and it is fun to watch.
I just love how well-rounded he is. He is a great athlete but also such an inquisitive, intelligent little fellow. One day I peeked out the front door and overheard him explaining inflation to his friend as they sat in the trench. He was right on with his explanation. And he also learned how to play "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" this month on the piano.
There were also hard times for the boys. They both got a stomach bug toward the end of the month. Thankfully, it was short-lived but man, it made us sad to see them down.
For homeschool this month we learned about Africa, slavery in the United States, mammals and reptiles. Man, it was good to do a bit more.
While studying Africa we rewatched The Lion Guard, read several picture books and made dodo (fried plantains), peanut soup and fufu (we used plantains and sweet potato.) We finished it off with the best movie. It's called Animals are Beautiful People and I highly recommend it.
Our animal study led us to the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary again. We love it!
We listened and read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Farm and Wilderness Babies, read many picture books, made animal snacks, did a couple animal drawing tutorials, and watched a whole bunch of animal documentaries.
We also got to take the boys to The Stinky Cheeseman and other Fairly Stupid Tales, a production at the Smith Center, with our homsechool coop. It was so fun to get out with just them and we laughed our heads off at the silly jokes. Atticus is now begging to go more, telling me he would love to see a symphony. We'll have to fulfill this wish soon!
And now it's May! Hooray!
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