Maybrie is loving Kindergarten! She is very shy and struggled with talking to her classmates and teacher at the beginning, but has really been opening up and making a lot of progress. Her teacher and I have been monitoring her progress and we finally felt she earned her prize of me eating lunch with her at school this past week. She was very excited! I have been volunteering and helping in her classroom on Thursdays. It is fun to peek in on her and feel like I am helping her teacher who I know does so much for Maybrie. Maybrie's teacher is Amanda Morris and she is fantastic. I love that we have a good relationship and are both working with Maybrie to overcome her shyness and do well in school. Maybrie loves her too. Maybrie seems so big now, getting on and off the bus like it's no big deal. She doesn't even want me to hold her hand to walk her up anymore. She is so excited to tell us about what she is learning. She loves pointing out her sight words everywhere and is constantly trying to sound out words. She is trying to write sentences now and I love to see the spelling she comes up with when sounding words out. She is such an artist... he hands are usually covered in marker from the many pictures she has drawn/colored. She does not like to have her hair done. She is a very picky eater. She takes a water bottle to school because she refuses to drink milk. She is starting to take showers instead of baths. She can be very strong-willed and independent.
Thomas:
He loves to come out to the bus stop with Maybrie in the mornings and always brings his rolling Cars backpack with him. Lately he has been wearing daddy's shoes outside because they are the only ones he can put on himself! He says "I miss you!" or "I going to miss her!" to Maybrie and Brian and now about being away from various friends too. His favorite TV shows are Henry Hugglemonster and Sophia the First. He is regularly the first one up in the morning, usually around 6:30am... too early! He is addicted to apple juice, applesauce and goldfish crackers. He is a horribly picky eater! He loves to play "house" and is constantly assigning us characters to play. He is often a dog or a horse or James (He got the name from the Disney Jr. show Sophia the first). Most days consist of a never-ending game of house while we go about various chores and activities. He loves superheroes, especially Batman, and fighting bad guys. He loves Ezra and always wants to play with him and share his toys... for about 10 minutes, and then complains that Ezra is getting his toys for the rest of an hour! He still calls him "Evra!" He asked where Maybrie and daddy are about 5 times a day, everyday. He refers to everyone as "Him." Almost every night he asks, "We have fun tomorrow?" He loves library books, especially ones about dinosaurs and trucks. He has started all of the frustrating 3 year old behaviors of hitting, talking back, whining, throwing fits, crying easily, being shy, refusing to pose for pictures, etc. Even though he has his difficult moments, he is still our lovable teddy bear... he just makes us work harder to kiss on him now that he is being more independent!
Ezra:
Ezra is now 10 months old... crazy! He is such a happy boy! He has the biggest smile. He doesn't laugh very hard, but has this cute little giggle he does all the time. He is drooling like crazy and still has his occasional spit up episodes. He sticks his tongue out a lot when he smiles and coos... I call him my little puppy dog because of that plus his drool. He army crawls everywhere and has just figured out how to pull himself to a stand next to the couch/ottoman/chair. He would usually rather play with Thomas' cars than any baby toys we throw at him. He does like to put toys in and out of containers and put cars on top of the ottoman or bottom step of the stairs. He is a distracted nurser so I usually feed him in his room with the door closed. He loves baby food and so far can't really figure out how to chomp table foods except for puffs and bread. He is super squirmy and curious. He rarely cries unless he has a good reason... hurt, hungry, tired. He is a little ball of sunshine that we simply love having around. His smile brightens every room.
I'm not going to lie... it was a very hard week. Brian has been studying practically non-stop with the exceptions of eating and sleeping. I have been fighting a spell of anxiety/depression that has made my stomach so upset it has been hard to even eat. Though it has been a hard month and week especially, we have kept pushing through. We have felt the Lord's love for us. So many friends have helped me by lending a listening ear, watching my kids, and even bringing dinner. We have been so very blessed. I am especially grateful that I was able to start taking a medication Friday that has already helped so much. I feel relieved that the worst part of my illness seems to be over and that I am feeling more and more like myself everyday. Yesterday I took the kids on a hike to collect fall leaves and to the park. We had a great time being out in nature... it was a very therapeutic outing for me. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and three happy and healthy children. This life is good. I want my children to know that I am a fighter... that when trials come I will fight to overcome them to be the best wife, mother, and woman I can be. I not only want to endure this life, but endure it well.
